Changing Tides
by Purecinnamonbun
Summary: After being captured by Victor Nikiforov, the most fearsome pirate in the whole of the Seven Seas, Prince Yuuri is determined to escape. And it seems that the only way he can do that is by winning the captain's trust. But underlying feelings may get in the way of Yuuri's goal of leaving the ship.
1. Chapter 1

**This is the result of me thinking too much about pirates.**

Yuuri could practically hear Mari's scornful voice ringing in his head.

'Captured by bloody pirates' she would say, leaning against the doorframe 'Yuuri, what in the great Ocean were you thinking?'

But Mari was back at the palace, blissfully unaware of Yuuri's capture- at least until the crew who were left behind on the ship arrived back in Hasetsu.

If Yuuri was Mari, he wouldn't be on this ship right now. He would be sailing back home with the rest of the crew, with a few tons more gold, and twenty pirate prisoners. If only Yuuri had listened to Minako before he left, and trained to use a sword on humans (he had only fought straw dummies before). But at the time, Yuuri had been so confident, he was sure they wouldn't run into pirates.

But, Yuuri supposed in retrospect, even if he did know how to fight people, he wouldn't have actually _done_ it. He could never kill someone- even if they were a pirate.

Yuuri's mind wandered back to when he was on the _Eros._

He had been standing outside on the deck with his best friend Phichit. They had been travelling to a country to renew a trade alliance, and they were only about a day away from their destination.

But then another ship appeared on the horizon.

At first, the crew thought nothing of it. They passed merchant vessels all the time, and these weren't waters that any pirates frequented.

Then the cannons started, and pirates, swathed in black started storming aboard.

Phichit tried to defend Yuuri, but was shot in the leg by a pirate, then kicked in the head to make him fall unconscious.

The last thing Yuuri saw before he entered darkness was a flash of silver hair in the distance.

 _Captain Nikiforov._

…

Two hours later, Yuuri woke up in the brig of a ship, the metal grating giving him just enough light to see by.

His hands and ankles were tied to a wooden beam behind him, which scratched his back. There was no one else in the brig, so Yuuri prayed that the rest of the crew was returning home safely. Footsteps and laughter sounded above Yuuri, which made him shrink even further.

What were these pirates planning to do with him?

Kill him?

Make his country pay a ransom?

Make his country pay a ransom and then kill him?

As much as Yuuri hated to admit it, the third option seemed the most likely. If it was any other pirate ship, maybe Yuuri would have had hope of returning home safely.

But Yuuri's mind kept going back to what he saw before he was forced unconscious.

This was, no doubt, Victor Nikiforov's ship.

The most fearsome pirate in the Seven Seas.

Aboard his ship, the _Stamni Vicino_ , Victor and his pirate crew had raided hundreds of ships. The few survivors returned back to Hasetsu to tell horror stories of his merciless gaze, his unforgiving sword, and his distinctive silver hair.

Yuuri shivered, partly of the icy cold in the brig, but also of fear.

He needed to find a way to get off this ship.

Compelling his mind into rational thought, Yuuri breathed in deeply, and breathed out.

He ignored the rope around his hands and ankles that was rubbing his skin raw.

Most ships had an escape dinghy. Yuuri would need to somehow escape from his bindings, wait until a pirate unlocked the hatch, knock out that pirate, and attempt to escape across the deck.

Simple.

Yuuri was startled out of his thoughts by the iron hatch creaking open.

A man climbed down, the sun outside bouncing off his blond hair.

Yuuri levelled him with a steely glare.

The man just laughed.

"Now don't be like that." H said "We'll get a nice price for you before we kill you. Just be glad we didn't kill you straight away."

A plate of bread with water gourd was set on the ground, and the man shut the hatch.

 _Damn. Yuuri couldn't escape without that being open._

"You can call me Chris." Chris said amicably, seemingly dismissing the earlier threat "Now, I'm going to undo your rope so you can eat, but any funny business, and you'll be dead a little sooner than planned.

Chris stepped behind him, and undid Yuuri's rope.

Yuuri took a small bite of bread, but when Chris wasn't looking, he stuffed it down his shirt, for when he needed it on the dinghy.

He did the same with the water.

As soon as Yuuri was finished, Chris redid the ropes- even tighter than before, and left through the hatch, locking it behind him.

But as Yuuri saw Chris turn away above him, the hatch keys on his belt came loose, and fell through the grate.

Yuuri thanked every god that he knew for the fact that pirates were idiots.

As soon as he could no longer see Chris' retreating back, Yuuri looked at the key.

It was out of sight of the hatch, so if a pirate looked down, they wouldn't be able to see it. But since Yuuri was in a contortionists position, his arms and legs tied to the beam, he couldn't reach them either.

Carefully, Yuuri felt the back of the beam with his tied hands, carefully searching until he found the perfect place.

A rough, unsanded , neglected part.

Slowly, Yuuri brought the rope over the spot, and quickly pulled it down. He kept repeating this action, slowly sawing away at the rope, until the light through the hatch disappeared, replaced by glittering stars.

Voices on the deck grew fainter, until only a few, who Yuuri guessed were in the crow's nest, were audible.

And then the rope gave, finally freeing Yuuri's hands.

The bread and water pouch in Yuuri's shirt rubbed uncomfortably in his shirt as he untied his feet, standing and stretching his sore muscles.

Then he crept over the floor, grabbed the key, and inched the grate open.

…

Once Yuuri was out on deck, he kept to the shadows, moving behind barrels as he checked for the dinghy.

A sick feeling of fear worked its way up Yuuri's stomach with every moment that passed in his fruitless search.

Until Yuuri finally spotted it, tied fastly to the side of the ship.

Carefully, he stepped backwards, feeling the ridge of the side with his hands as he put one leg over…..

Accidentally kicking a barrel over with the other leg.

LOUDLY.

Yuuri immediately dropped over the side of the ship, landing in the dinghy, and started fumbling to undo the knots.

Firelight washed over him

"OI! The pig's getting away!" Screamed a short, blond, green eyes boy.

The boy jumped onto the side of the ship, obviously about to jump.

But at that moment, Yuuri caught the final knot, and the dinghy plunged down into the icy depths, leaving the green eyed boy grinding his teeth.

…

"Victor!" Chris yelled, banging the door open.

Said airheaded captain woke up with a start, propping himself upright.

"Chris?"

"Prince Yuuri escaped!"

That caught Victor's attention.

He was immediately up, fastening his cloak, and striding forwards, shouting out orders left and right.

Striding up to the edge of the ship, Victor saw a small, wooden boat moving away in the horizon.

Victor smirked.

"You won't get away that easily, _solnyshko"_


	2. Chapter 2

**Next chapter up! And a day early! I just couldn't wait any longer to post it. Hope y'all enjoy it- we have interaction between Victor and Yuuri! Anyways, on with the story!-Purecinnamonbun**

The frigid water furiously splashed over the side of the small boat, tossing it around in the waves, and leaving Yuuri the coldest he'd ever been. But nevertheless, he gritted his teeth forced his frozen hands to plunge the oars into the water, and kept moving away from the _Stamni Vicino_. The bread and water pouch scratched against his skin, already damp from his soaking shirt.

The ship, about half a mile behind Yuuri, was now full of life, orders being shouted. Out of the corner of his eye, Yuuri could see the anchor being lifted.

He had to work faster.

The first time he'd been caught, at least the pirates had kept him alive.

This time however, he feared that Captain Nikiforov wouldn't be so forgiving.

The waves were growing by the second, and Yuuri was so chilled he was scarcely able to focus on moving the oars.

The ship behind Yuuri was moving.

Fear lodged itself even further in Yuuri's stomach.

 _Keep rowing._

 _Keep rowing._

 _Keep rowing._

 _Cold._

Dark clouds began to gather on the horizon, and panicked tears started falling from Yuuri's eyes, as he kept going, fuelled by pure adrenaline.

The waves grew ever bigger.

The ship drew closer behind him.

Yuuri fell deeper into despair.

Rain started to beat down onto the dark, inky sea, and thunder crashed above Yuuri. The sky lit up for a brief second. Yuuri's boat began to be tossed around even more, full waves rolling over him, leaving Yuuri gasping for air.

And then finally, the biggest wave Yuuri had ever seen barrelled towards him, flipping the boat, and putting him at the ice cold mercy of the sea.

…

Yuuri could safely say that he regretted everything.

He hoped Mari wouldn't be too mad at him for dying. She'd make a fantastic Queen.

Maybe Phichit would take care of Vicchan for him. He'd had a lot of practice with hamsters, so Yuuri was sure he could handle it.

Minako would have to find a new protégée. He'd never been very good at dancing anyway.

His parents….. his parents would have to find a new prince. Maybe someone who didn't have a knack for getting into dangerous situations. Maybe someone who was handsome, knew what they wanted to do with life, were able to fight for what they believed in, and wouldn't be conquered by the pull of the ocean.

Someone who was nothing like Yuuri.

Slightly more satisfied that his loved ones would be able to handle the legal matter of his death, Yuuri opened his eyes, the salt water stinging them.

He could make out the dark shape of a boat on the surface. His dazed mind couldn't comprehend why. Soon, he was forced to close his eyes, smoothly entering a limbo between conscious and unconscious.

Drowning was cold, Yuuri noted vaguely to himself in his water-clogged mind. Or maybe that was just in the middle of the ocean. It felt like he was being skinned by white-hot knives. And were those arms he felt closing around his middle, the arms of Death, pulling him away?

…

When Yuuri's brain came to, he could safely say that being dead was a lot warmer than being alive. Maybe he was in hell then. Yuuri didn't feel like undergoing the crushing disappointment that he was a terrible person, so kept his eyes closed.

Shifting his foot, Yuuri absent mindedly realised that he was under a blanket. Did they have those in hell?

Wait.

Yuuri's eyes snapped open, and he sat up as fast as he possibly could.

He was in a room.

A few medals adorned the wooden walls, along with hangings and drapes. A half-open closet was on the other side of the room, and Yuuri could see clothes that were clearly very expensive.

Yuuri himself was in a four poster bed with golden sheets and pillows. His hands and feet were untied. He was dressed in a loose shirt, along with pants.

And judging by the bobbing movements, he was on a ship.

"I see you're up." A voice spoke into the room.

Yuuri quickly turned his gaze to the door. There, in all his glory, was Victor Nikiforov, the terror of the Seven Seas.

He was dressed in a white shirt, along with a purple jacket with gold trimmings. His lower half was clad in simple purple breeches. Surprisingly, his head was devoid of a pirate hat.

Victor seemed to notice Yuuri staring, and sighed.

"So silent for the one who saved your life?"

"W-what?" Yuuri squeaked.

"You nearly drowned. I saved you." Victor was smiling.

Yuuri suddenly found a voice to fight back.

"If you hadn't captured me in the FIRST PLACE, I wouldn't have drowned!"

The pirate rolled his eyes.

"Technicalities, zolotose."

Was Yuuri just insulted in a different language?

Victor surveyed him a little, before gesturing to the room.

"This is where you'll be staying. It's nice, is it not? I will have dinner brought to you soon."

And with that, the famous pirate captain was gone, locking the door behind him.

Yuuri slowly sank to his knees. He'd been captured again. Now he wouldn't be able to escape as easily, that's for sure.

Gulping, he levelled a look at the door.

There was only one thing he could do.

Win Victor Nikiforov's trust.

…

Once Victor had locked the door, he turned to face Chris, who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm guessing we aren't holding him for ransom then?"

Victor snorted, starting to walk towards the deck.

"We never were. I just told Yurio that to get him off my back."

Chris rolled his eyes.

"Out of all the people you could've fallen in love with, you chose a _Prince?_ "

"Of course. And I'm going to make him fall in love with me too."

 **Chapters will get slightly longer, promise!**


	3. Chapter 3

**New chapter out! I actually managed to stick to posting this on the right day for once. This chapter was actually pretty fun to write. Stay tuned for more!-Purecinnamonbun**

When Yuuri put more thought into it, it was the only logical conclusion. Victor would be expecting him to try and escape again, so any means of that would be safely stowed away.

Quietly, Yuuri stood, and slid off the bed (it was surprisingly comfortable for a prisoner), setting his feet on the wooden floor. Making his way over to the door, he attempted twisting the handle.

Locked.

In retrospect, Yuuri knew it would be.

Sighing, Yuuri sat on the cold floor, and leant his head against the door. There was no other way out if this. He just had to get Victor's trust enough that he would be left unattended on deck or at port for a few minutes. That way he could make a quick escape, and get a good enough head start.

Yuuri ignored the guilt he felt at the thought of betraying Victor. He was just a pirate, and one that he had only met once. One that would certainly kill him if the chance presented itself.

Now all Yuuri had to do was figure out how to make the pirate actually trust him. Which would be difficult, since Yuuri was….y'know, Yuuri. When he was younger, all of the other young nobles (with the exception of Yuuko and maybe Takashi), hated him. Mari told him that they just didn't like the fact that he had a station much higher than theirs, but Yuuri was sure that that wasn't the case.

They hated him because he was bad at everything.

At balls, they would all stand together and snigger at Yuuri as he danced with Yuuko and Takashi. Yuuko tried to stop them, but in the end just accepted things were the way they were, and let it go.

He lived in a bubble of doubt and self-hatred.

Until one day, when a new Thai royal family came to court, and along with them an extroverted, King and The Skater obsessed boy, who immediately took a liking to Yuuri.

The other kids left him alone once Phichit had set himself on them.

Yuuri couldn't even recall what he did to make _Phichit_ like him. One day he was just... there, and didn't leave.

Yuuri's stomach rumbled, and he treaded his way back across the room, and perched oon the side of his bed, leaning back with a groan.

He'd give anything for his mother's Katsudon right now.

That was approximately when the door slammed open, and an angry blond stood there glaring at him.

"Oi, pig!"

Insults were better than this kid, say, stabbing him.

"Here's your food." The kid banged a plate down on the table next to the door. "I'm Yuri. Hear that? YURI. If you start calling me Yurio like that balding old man does, you can expect your life to end RIGHT NOW."

Slightly numbly, Yuuri nodded. The blond glared at him, and started to push the door shut, when a small ball of fluff ran through the door and jumped Yuuri. Falling backwards, Yuuri just looked up as a cat sat regally on his stomach.

"Potya!" Yurio yelled, launching himself forward and gathering the cat up in his arms.

"C-cute cat." Yuuri managed, sitting up, and gasping for breath.

"She usually doesn't like strangers." Yurio muttered, cradling Potya close to his chest.

A flurry of barks sounded behind Yurio, who looked panicked.

"OI! OLD MAN!" He screeched "GET YOUR STUPID DOG UNDER CONTROL! IF HE HURTS POTYA I'LL DUMP HIM OVERBOARD!"

And with that, the door closed behind Yurio, followed by the click of the lock.

Leaving Yuuri in stunned silence.

He really had to work harder on this whole 'winning their trust' thing. He had managed approximately two words.

Leaning over, Yuuri picked up the bowl that had been left for him. It looked like some type of red soup. Yuuri smelled it. It didn't _seem_ poisoned.

Giving up in favour of his hunger, Yuuri ate about half of the soup before placing it back on the table by the door, and laying back on the bed, staring upwards at the ceiling. He could hear the waves outside thrashing down on the side of the ship. He missed everyone back home. Turning onto his side, Yuuri fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Only to be awoken a minute later by incessant poking….and sobbing?

Sitting up as quickly as he could, Yuuri looked at a man who seemed to be wearing an excessive amount of eyeliner, and washing it all off with his crying.

"The ca-ah-aha-ptain wants an au-ahdiance" The man cried, gesturing towards the door. Sensing Yuuri's slightly startled gaze, the man pointed to himself "Ge-or-or-gi." He sniffled.

"A-are you okay?" Yuuri stuttered slightly. 'Georgi' didn't really seem like a typical…pirate.

"MY TRUE LOVE!" Georgi suddenly screamed, causing Yuuri to jump back in fright "Anya! My love! Left me because I was one of the many who sailed the seven se-ea-as"

He burst out crying again.

"There there." Yuuri said, awkwardly patting the man's back.

Sniffing, Georgi rubbed his eyes, and tugged on Yuuri's sleeve.

"The captain wants an audience."

Georgi pulled Yuuri's hands behind his back so he couldn't escape, and led Yuuri out of his room, down a maze of corridors, and finally emerging on deck. From there, Yuuri was led down a flight of stairs, through another maze of corridors, and into a brightly lit room with a bottle of rum on the table, and a smiling Victor Nikiforov on the other end.

Ignoring his instincts screaming to run, Yuuri tentatively sat down, when Georgi gestured for him to do so.

Then the said pirate turned to Victor, and started crying about Anya all over again, before leaving the room, muttering about how 'He shouldn't have to do menial duties when he's heartbroken'

"That was Georgi." Victor said pleasantly "He's having a bit of a crisis about being a pirate right now, so please bear with him. Rum?"

Swallowing, Yuuri shook his head.

"I'm not very good with alcohol."

The last time he drank too much, he woke up in the morning with no memory of what had transpired the night before. When he asked Phichit, his friend just shrugged, and said that he left early.

Victor looked confused for half a second before regaining his composure.

"So, Yuuri." He smiled "Tell me about yourself."

Why? Yuuri wanted to ask. So you can have a plethora of information for when you inevitably kill me?

But instead, Yuuri looked down at the table (The man was too pretty to look at without stuttering), and muttered something about his favourite colour being blue, and how his favourite animal was a dog.

For some reason, that comment made the oh-so-terrifying captain who had killed HUNDREDS of people light up even more.

Victor got up, and strode over to the door, which he opened, and made a few clicking sounds, along with "Makka! Makka!"

For a split second, Yuuri smiled at the display, before remembering that he was in the company of a PIRATE who could KILL HIM.

Yuuri began to revert into an anxious meltdown.

His thoughts were instantly cut off by a huge poodle gambling through the door, running up to Yuuri, and giving him a big lick on his hand.

"I just knew that Makkachin would love you!" Victor clapped his hands.

"She's beautiful." Yuuri said, enamoured.

Victor laughed, and started playing with the dog.

"Who's a good girl? You're a good girl!" The pirate cooed "Who's been chasing Yurio's mean cat around all day? You have! You have! Such a good girl!"

"I HEARD THAT OLD MAN!" A familiar yell came from nearby.

Victor, looking unperturbed, stood up, and smiled at Yuuri.

That's when Georgi came in, and escorted Yuuri back to his room.

It was only just before Yuuri fell asleep that night that he realised he forgot all about winning Victor's trust.

…

After Yuuri left, Victor looked at the seat he had been sitting in with a smile on his face. This was going rather well.

"Victor."

A dulcet tone spoke from behind him.

"Seung Gil." Victor looked at him, his features immediately icy "I trust you have an update on the situation with JJ?"

"He is currently just off the coast of Hasetsu." Seung Gil spoke in a monotone. "It appears we only just beat him in obtaining Prince Yuuri."

"Any statements from him?"

"An informant on his ship has told us that he has promised his fiancée Isabelle an extravagant wedding. He plans to pay for it by holding Prince Yuuri for ransom, and then killing him. If Prince Yuuri were to remain in Hasetsu, the odds say that he would already be dead."

Victor's grip tightened on the sword by his waist.

"Thank you Seung Gil. You are excused."

Seung Gil bowed, picked up his sword from the table, fastened it around his waist, and left for the night watch.

Victor looked out of the window in his cabin, at the sea outside.

"Don't worry Yuuri." He said softly, under his breath "I will keep you safe."

 **OH SNAP. Do Victor's actions make more sense to y'all now?**


	4. Chapter 4

**I am sticking to this update schedule for once! This chapter is kind of filler, kind of not-we do get to see some evolving feelings with Victor and Yuuri! I'm looking forward to next chapter, since we'll finally get to see how Victor and Yuuri met!-Purecinnamonbun**

He'd woken up in the middle of the night (or at least he _assumed_ it was the middle of the night because of the lack of voices outside), and had found himself unable to fall asleep again.

During the time he was on the _Eros_ he had become accustomed to sleeping rough in uncomfortable hammocks.

Now it just felt like he was drowning in a feather bed, with too many sheets.

Groaning slightly, Yuuri heaved himself of the bed, pulled the very top sheet off, and lay down on the floor while wrapped up in it.

But, as fate was cruel, Yuuri was only blessed with what seemed to be three minutes of sleep before the door was slammed open by Yurio.

"Oi! Pig! Get up! What, do you sleepwalk or something? I would've pegged you to be too _lazy_ , you disgrace to your country."

Yuuri didn't know what he'd done to annoy this boy, but he sure as heck hoped he didn't do it again.

…..being called a disgrace to his country stung a little.

Rolling over, and hoisting himself up into a sitting position, he blinked blearily at Yurio.

"Huh?"

"Just GET UP. We need you on deck, _Pig._ You need to get off your butt and start actually doing something with your life."

The door slammed shut behind Yurio as he….what was the best word for it….flounced off.

He tried to be so mature, but his insults were childish, really.

Walking over to the wardrobe, Yuuri selected the simplest, non-expensive outfit, and changed quickly. Back home, he and his family never saw the point of dressing as nobility. They instead wanted to show the common folk that they were equals, so preferred to dress as them. That way, they saved a lot of money on expensive clothing for themselves, which meant that tax prices were slightly lower than in other countries of the world.

Yuuri wondered if any of these pirates had ever had to pay taxes- or indeed had ever lived a relatively normal life.

Does one become a pirate straight at birth?

What was the procedure for joining?

How did _Victor_ join?

Abruptly, Yuuri shook all of these thoughts out of his head.

He shouldn't be thinking about all the intricacies of pirate life. He should be thinking about leaving this ship, and getting home to his family, before the pirates decided to send a ransom note and kill him.

For some reason, the idea of _Victor_ specifically killing him came to mind, and Yuuri felt a strange sense of sadness.

Thankfully, before Yuuri could think any deeper into it, the door re-opened, and a tall, brown haired, violet eyed man stood scowling at the doorframe. Behind him, a black haired woman stood, smiling.

"You're wanted on deck." The man said gruffly.

"Mickey, don't be so mean!" The girl said reprimandingly. She turned to Yuuri "I'm Sara. Please forgive my brother. He's a little on the…" She made a corkscrew action into her head.

"Sara!" Mickey cried out, before glaring at Yuuri again "I don't know what your intentions are with my sister, but I suggest you leave her well alone, unless you want to be tied to the anchor and dropped into the sea."

This Mickey person seemed to be a _bit_ more like all the pirates Yuuri had been told about, but Yuuri hadn't known that they were quite so protective over their…sisters?

Mari would kill him if he ever tried to act like that, then dig him up, demand to know who made him do it, go and kill _that_ person, and then give Yuuri an extensive lecture on how Mari was her own woman.

It had happened before with Phichit, when Yuuri had asked if one hundred and fifty hamsters were perhaps just _one_ too many.

Turning his attention back to the siblings, Yuuri realised that they were still arguing.

" _I_ don't lecture _you_ on dating Emil!"

"That's _different,_ you _know_ Emil!"

" _You_ know _Mila_ but that doesn't stop you from making me keep watch in the crow's-nest all day whenever I try to ask her out!"

"I don't like the way that redhead looks at you!"

"Please, the way Emil looks at _you_ is one hundred times worse!"

Yuuri tried breaking the argument up approximately twice, only to be met with chilling glares from both of them.

Eventually Yuuri just sat on the bed, trying valiantly to click his heels together and mutter 'there's no place like home'.

It didn't work.

Finally, the door opened again, and a light haired man with a goatee came in, followed by a redheaded girl.

"What's taking so long?" The redhead scowled at Mickey, marching over to Sara and putting her hand on her shoulder.

"Mila!" Sara's face lit up.

Yuuri felt a sense of dread at what was to come next.

Mickey's face began to turn beet red, and he started to splutter.

…before he was pulled into the embrace of the man with the goatee, who tucked Mickey's head under his chin and muttered

"It's okay, Mickey."

"Thanks Emil" Mickey said grudgingly, burrowing his face into Emil's chest.

And with that, the two happy couples left the room, the door swinging behind them, and leaving Yuuri completely bemused and forgotten about.

Two seconds later there was a screech of

"CAN ANYONE ON THIS GOD FORSAKEN SHIP DO ANYTHING RIGHT!-I'm not talking to you Beka."

The door slammed open for what seemed like the twentieth time, and in marched Yurio, followed by a stoic, dark haired man in a leather jacket.

"Come on _Pig_." Yurio spat, grabbing Yuuri by the arm, and forcing him forwards "I don't know _what_ Yakov was thinking, sending the hag, the dog, and the _Crispinos_ to come and get you."

"We were in the crow's-nest, Seung Gil was busy, Georgi was crying, Guang Hong was scrubbing the deck with Leo, Minami was playing on the rigging, Lila was convincing Morooka to sell his soul to dance, and Chris is probably doing things you don't want to know about." Otabek recited calmly.

Yurio looked like he wanted to come up with a retort, stopped, thought about it, and just grabbed Otabek's hand, mumbling

"Whatver, Beka."

It would be so easy just to wrench his arm out of Yurio's loose grip, Yuuri thought wistfully, and run away.

Victor's face flashed in Yuuri's mind again, and the prince looked down at the floor to hide his blush.

Why did he feel like he already knew Victor so well? And why did the thought of betraying Victor make him feel so guilty?

Yurio came to a stop, and spun around to face Yuuri.

"Minami, our cabin boy, is busy, so you need to swab the deck."

He thrust a mop and a bucket at Yuuri, who looked back at him, bewildered.

"WHAT, JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE A PRISONER, YOU CAN'T WORK?"

"N-no.." Yuuri stammered.

"Whatever, just get on with it already. Any funny business and I'll tie you to the anchor and drop you into the sea."

Yurio and Otabek started walking away.

 _What was it with these pirates and tying people to the anchor and dropping them into the sea?_

Yuuri started to dutifully mop the floor.

It could be worse.

He could be forced to skin a dead whale or something.

He just needed to do what he was told, until he found the opportunity.

The only bad thing about this job, really, was being left alone with his thoughts. The more that happened, the more he felt that he knew Victor.

…

"You made my Yuuri _work?"_ Victor cried in a scandalised tone.

"We were low on hands, and he was probably happy to be out of that miniature _prison_ that _you_ kept him in!" Yurio spat

"Do you think Yuuri didn't like his room?" Victor asked the air in a worried tone

"He probably didn't _like_ being kept in it 24/7!"

Sighing, Victor rested his head in his hands.

"I only do that to try and keep my Yuuri safe, Yura, you know I do. The situation with JJ is spiralling out of control, and I fear my Yuuri is in more danger than ever. If any of the pirates we trade with were to see Yuuri…"

"…They would tell JJ, I know. But we only trade during the night, and if you really want that pig to fall in love with you, you should let him have some freedom." Yurio stood up, and turned towards the door "I'm on the night shift with Beka."

Victor watched Yurio leave, and rubbed his face with his palm. He wanted Yuuri to be safe more than anything else in the whole world. He was desperately in love with the brown haired man after all.

Victor found his mind wandering back to the time that he and Yuuri first met…..

 **Mickey arguing with Sara, and Emil calming him down gives me life. I just wanted a teeny break from all the drama that I was writing about.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here y'all go, Part 1 of the banquet. This chapter is a bit longer than all the others, and life decided to hit me in the face, so it's a tad bit late, but never mind. This is probably my favourite chapter so far. -Purecinnamonbun**

 _ **Six months ago….**_

"Captain." Georgi bowed "We are now nearing Hasetsu."

Victor nodded, and stepped up to the edge of the poop deck, surveying the approaching mainland with a thoughtful gaze.

"You know your role in this mission?"

"Yes….But if I may, as know that is not my place, this plan seems a little…..different. You plan on cleaning out their palace gold stores, kidnap the prince, and then force them to pay with whatever they have secreted away around the country. That is your plan, is it not?"

"In short, you think that it is impossible?" Victor smiled, resting his hands on the side of the ship.

Georgi looked down at the ground for a few seconds before snapping his head back up to Victor again. His words came out in a tumbled rush.

"I mean that it is barbaric! You are stealing most of the gold the country has, stealing their _crown prince,_ and then forcing them to pay even more, effectively leaving the country defenceless to raids! Sir, you have always had a reason to attack countries or ships. Whether it was the government being corrupt, the royals spending all their money on themselves, or even slaves being kept, you always did what you believed was right for the country

"Yet this time, you are plundering a country that is renowned for its low tax, close relations with other countries, and the most selfless royals in all of the Seven Seas. This just seems to not fit your character."

"You're right, Georgi." Victor stared out onto the horizon before abruptly turning away, and marching down the stairs onto the deck. "It really is not your place."

…

Entering his cabin, Victor shut the door tightly, pushing away the impulse to sink down against it. He knew the crew were talking about this. How they were going after a country that was almost completely pure. And kidnapping their crown prince, nonetheless. But they still followed orders, without specifically speaking out against it (except Georgi, but he was currently between lovers, and had a rare dose of common sense).

Anyway, Victor was grateful for it.

He just had to ignore the fact that while they trusted in him, his reason was completely selfish.

"Hey Makka." Victor cooed, making his way over to the dog, who was lying weakly. "Good girl!"

Makkachin gave a half hearted bark, before leaning back again, her tongue lolling out of her mouth, and her eyes half open.

"Don't worry Makka." Victor stroked her gently "I'll get the money I need for the healer. You'll be up and running around like you used to in no time."

' _She has two weeks.'_ The healer had told him ' _If I do not operate on her in that time, Makkachin will die.'_

The healer had then gone on to demand an extortionate sum of money, and had refused to take an IOU.

So, Victor had tracked down the richest country he could find, buried his guilt, and had planned the raid.

He would give the prince back, though.

Prince Yuuri (although Victor had never met, or even seen him), had done nothing wrong. He would just be kept in the brig for a few weeks, and then returned to his home land, unharmed, but with considerably lighter pockets.

There was a quiet rapping at the door.

"Captain," A voice, who Victor deduced to be Minami, spoke nervously "The crew says that it's time. The banquet is beginning."

After a prolonged goodbye to Makkachin, Victor put on a fancy suit, and went out onto deck.

"This is a bad idea, old man." Yura scowled from where he was leaning against Otabek, who was nodding silently to Yuri's words.

Victor chose to ignore him. If he revealed the true reason behind doing this, they wouldn't get it. They wouldn't get why Victor couldn't leave the dog who had been with him through thick and thin, to die.

"Let's go." Victor said with an air of finality.

One by one, the crew members filed off the ship, disguised in elaborate suits(or in Mila's case, dresses).

Georgi, Yuri, Otabek, Mila, and Chris.

The rest of the crew were either manning the ship, or already at the Palace, finding places to keep watch.

The group walked silently through the night, the lights of the Palace getting brighter as they closed in.

Two guards waited at the gates.

"Mila." Victor instructed in a hushed tone, once they were within sight.

Immediately the redhead was next to the guards, leaning on their shoulders, giggling, and showing off her legs.

The guards, obviously said something about an invitation, because Mila felt her pockets, before leaning back with a quick remark and a pouty face.

One of the guards made a quip in return, cracking a smile, causing Mila to lean back and laugh.

Smiling, Victor was momentarily distracted from his guilty conscience. If only they knew that Mila firmly swung the other way.

After a few moments, Mila gestured to them, and the guard nodded after a second of hesitation.

The gate was opened, and the pirates were inside the banquets.

Georgi, Yuri, and Mila immediately split off in the direction of the vaults, while Victor, Chris, and Otabek continued walking into the banquet. They were in charge of…acquiring… the prince.

When they entered the hall, Chris let out a slow whistle, tugging on his tie.

"This place is a million times swankier than the kitchens of the ship."

Otabek surveyed the room with an impressed look, but all the while keeping a hand on his hip, where his dagger was hidden beneath his suit jacket.

For all he was silent, the kid was _terrifying._

"Split, and find Prince Yuuri." Victor muttered while looking straight ahead, his lips barely moving.

Yuri walked left towards the food, Chris right- unsurprisingly, towards the table with all the hard-hitting drinks. Meanwhile, Victor scanned the area of the champagne, figuring that the prince would have a classier, more elegant taste for alcohol, and would not want to eat quite so early in the evening.

Snatches of conversation caught his ears.

"Prince Yuuri…."

"Yes, that's right…"

"Completely botched the trade agreement between…."

"How undignified for a prince…."

"His parents should have raised him better.."

Victor flinched, feeling slightly bad for the prince that he was about to kidnap. This would only worsen his image even more. But he was halted by another conversation taking place nearby.

"Yuuri! Go easy on the champagne! I may be your best friend, a hamster overlord, and a party _animal,_ but you don't want to be drinking this much at the moment!"

Turning ever so slightly , Victor caught a glimpse of a Thai man attempting to pry away a flute of champagne from a man who was undoubtedly the prince….and unfairly attractive.

 _Why did things never go Victor's way?!_

"Okay Yuuri, stay right there. I'm going to get a few guards, and then you can go to your private chambers."

The dark haired prince nodded, hair falling slightly over his eyes, as he stared sadly into his champagne.

Victor's heart pounded faster, but he chose to ignore it.

Instead, he approached the drunk prince with a handsome playboy smile, and an "Are you in need of assistance?"

…

Mila clicked her tongue as she twisted the lock to the vault. Getting down here had been fairly easy -Hasetsu needed to stop employing less susceptible guards-, but the door to the vault was locked up tight.

"I don't get why we can't just leave the gold and pronounce this mission a failure," Yurio spat while leaning against the tunnel wall "The old man won't even tell us why we're _on_ this mission. This is a complete and utter bust. The hag can't even get the treasury door open."

"I'm _working_ on it." Mila snapped venomously from where she was tinkering with the door.

"Did any of you _see_ that girl who was near the gates?" Georgi said dreamily, staring off into the distance.

Yuri groaned.

"Great. He's off in cuckoo land again. I knew him being smart wouldn't last."

"Anya. I heard her say her name was Anya."

Mila's grip tightened on the door.

"He's almost as dumb as the old man."

"When we have finished the job, I will approach her and-"

Spinning around, Mila punched both of the men in the stomach.

"Will you two _shut it?_ "

"No need to be overly aggressive!" Georgi complained, rubbing his stomach.

"Damn you hag!" Yuri yelled, doubled over.

"Both of you, shut up!"

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO YOU-" Mila clamped a hand over Yurio's mouth, straining her ears.

"There are footsteps coming." Releasing Yuri, she pressed up against the wall, listening carefully

Slightly more quietly, Yuri scoffed

"It's just more guards. We can take them out easily."

Mila shook her head.

"Their foot falls are too heavy."

Georgi looked over at Mila

"Then who-"

"THE WORLD WILL BOW TO KING JJ!"

A yell echoed along the dimly lit tunnel.

"Never mind, that answered my question." Georgi pressed back against the wall. "What are we going to do?"

"I say we fight the asshole." Yuri pulled out a dagger, which Mila snatched away.

"By the sound of it, there are at least three times more of them than there are of us. It'd be suicide."

"That's the only way out though." Georgi said softly "Along that tunnel. We'd have to pass them at some point."

"Damn that old man." Yuri muttered, bringing a palm to his face "Always getting us into the worst situations."

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?" Mila said grimly "And listen. I have a plan."

 **It physically pains me to:**

 **Make Makkachin sick**

 **Cut off the Victuuri when it was just getting good.**

 **See y'all next time in Part 2 of the banquet!**


	6. Chapter 6

"THE WORLD WILL BOW TO KING JJ!"

JJ's solid gold boots (Which he was very proud of- while a little cumbersome, they did make him look very flashy. Isabella certainly appreciated them) clanged on the concrete floor as he strode down the tunnel, his crew following closely behind.

"ROB THE VAULTS!" JJ yelled in his 'I'm a man, listen to me' voice, which he had saved specially for this sort of situation. In his opinion, the plan was going very well. Isabella would be upstairs, currently charming her way into the ball, to kidnap the prince. All while he and the rest of his crew got their hands on some nice, sparkly gold.

Of course, by the end of it the country would be down one royal heir, but after all, it meant that they would have one _fabulous_ wedding.

Perhaps they could even have the prince be their vicar before his inevitable demise.

JJ clapped his hands together in excitement.

It was at that moment one of his crew members walked up to him.

"Capt- I mean Your Highness King JJ?"

"Yes?" JJ turned to him scowling slightly as he was interrupted from his daydream.

"We…um…cantgetintothevault"

JJ stiffened

"Excuse me?"

"I… er…. well.. you should just come and see." The crew member then turned, and stepped quickly in the direction of the vault, JJ following, and stumbling over his gold boots.

"That's the reason we can't… get in"

He pointed.

JJ looked, and started.

There was a strange ethereal creature, the lower half of his face obscured by a scarf, and a pair of cat ears on his head, who appeared to be doing some sort of version of the Macarena outside the vault.

"I'M THE ANCIENT CAT SPIRIT ASSHOLE, AND IF YOU WANT THE GOLD, YOULL NEED TO GO THROUGH ME!"

JJ blinked.

…

This was the worst thing Yurio had ever been forced to do. As soon as the hag had looked at him with her signature 'I'm up to something' look, he'd known that he wasn't going to get out of this easily.

That look was how he ended up hanging upside down from the sail at midnight. That look was how he'd ended up trying to ride a dolphin back to shore after he fell off the ship. And now that _goddamn_ look meant that he was doing the Macarena.

In front of JJ.

Pretending to be a cat spirit.

In the corner of his eye, he could see Mila and Georgi sniggering from where they'd managed to hide themselves in the open vault. Glaring viciously behind the scarf wrapped around his face, he continued his speech, still doing the Macarena.

"Look asshole, I've been protecting this vault for billions of years. You ain't getting your hands on any of my gold! If you even try, I'll…um…..PLACE THE CURSE OF A THOUSAND CATS UPON YOU AND YOUR WHOLE FAMILY!"

"The curse of….."JJ whispered. Then he shook his head "I am JJ! I don't admit defeat from some low stray cat!" 

Despite this, JJ was shaking as he planted one golden clad foot in front of the other, finally getting to about a meter away from Yurio.

"This is the last warning, jerk!" Yurio shouted, firmly ignoring the eyes of Mila and Georgi, peering at him from where the vault was ever so slightly cracked open.

JJ took another step forwards, looking even paler than before.

Yurio cursed his luck.

"NO GOING BACK NOW! YOU GET A GODDAMN CURSE, HAPPY ? _KAPUT ….KAPUT ..UM…. PUMA TIGER SCORPION…DRACONIS!?"_

Yurio really needed to work on his fake spell casting skills. There's no way JJ would believe that was a real curse. This was all that hag's faul-"

 _THUMP!_

…The idiot actually fainted.

The rest of the crew stared at JJ, who was currently snoozing on the floor, then looked up at Yurio who folded his arms tightly.

"Told you."

The rest of the crew fled, dragging an unconscious JJ behind them.

As soon as they were out of sight, the vault door swung open, and Mila leaned out.

"Well, we'd better get ourselves some gold."

…

This was not going the way Victor intended.

What began as a ploy to entice the prince outside and kidnap him, turned into several deep conversations with a crown prince who was, apparently, very drunk, and also apparently, very dismissive of that key fact.

The worst part was, Victor was beginning to feel like he maybe couldn't kidnap this guy after all.

And maybe like he sorta maybe wanted to marry him instead.

"Look! Vickytor! I can' do a han'stand!"

The prince (who's name, Victor had learned, was Yuuri), desperately tried to kick his feet up in the air, wobbled, and came tumbling down again. Victor swiftly moved forward, and caught Yuuri in his arms. Ignoring how his heart started speeding up as he did so.

"Maybe you should stay on your feet" Victor gently set Yuuri upright, and put his hand on his shoulder, smiling.

Yuuri nodded seriously

"You' right. Probshly shouldn't break my legshs. Phichit'd be mad."

Then, with renewed vigour, Yuuri snatched up Victor's hand and started pulling him towards the door to the outside.

As soon as they had reached the centre of the garden, Yuuri giggled, leaned forwards, and latched his hands around Victor's neck, causing him to stumble backwards.

"Dance with me!"

Well, it's not like Victor could refuse.

He gently placed his hand on Yuuri's hip, and lead him in a silent waltz.

Victor was falling for Yuuri. He knew that already. Maybe that was okay, since Yuuri seemed to like him a lot too. Although the other man was very drunk.

What could he do about Makka?

He wouldn't be able to kidnap Yuuri, that was for sure. Even though this was the ideal scenario, he just couldn't stomach it anymore. And after spending an evening hearing chatter about how kind all the royals of Hasetsu were, and how they barely spent any gold on themselves, Victor couldn't just go and rob them blind.

He sighed.

Yuuri frowned from opposite him, and abruptly stopped dancing. He then proceeded to yank Victor downwards, until they were both sprawled on the grass, facing one another.

"What are you sad about?" Yuuri asked softly.

Victor, slightly taken aback, answered "I…how…."

Yuuri looked into Victor's eyes.

"You're sad about something. Maybe I can help."

Victor's heart gave a tug.

Sighing, Victor admitted defeat to his pride, and moved over so he was staring up at the stars, Yuuri curled up next to him, gripping his hand tightly.

"Do you know why I'm here, Yuuri?" Victor rubbed circles into Yuuri's hand. He could feel Yuuri shaking his head into his shoulder.

"I'm a pirate. I came to steal your gold" Victor expected Yuuri to jump up and call the guards at this, but the brown eyed man just gripped his hand tighter, and asked

"Why?"

"My dog…" Victor said quietly "My dog is very ill. Makkachin has always been with me, ever since I was little. She's my best friend. But having her healed costs a lot of money. More than I've stolen in the last five years. So I came here to get it. But now I can't. Because I met you, Yuuri."

Yuuri sat up, and looked down at Victor, who slowly pulled himself up as well.

Yuuri's face creased into a smile.

"I had a dog too. His name was Vicchan."

Victor watched in disbelief, as Yuuri reached up to his neck, and undid something around it.  
He then placed it in Victor's palm, with a soft "Here."

It was a gleaming white stone, shaped into an ice skate. Even though it was smaller than Victor's fingernail, it seemed to radiate value and importance.

Yuuri tapped it gently.

"It's a star stone. A long time ago, when my father wanted to propose to my mother, he went searching for a rare, almost extinct gem to put on the ring. He found this. It's the only one in existence at the moment. After my parents got married, they cut it up into four pieces. My mother and father both have one, and so do my sister and I. It's valuable." Yuuri closed Victor's fist around the gem "I want you to have it. Sell it, and save your dog."

Victor shook his head, and tried to push the stone back to Yuuri.

"I can't accept this. It's too important"

Yuuri stepped back, and grinned.

"You should have it. Put it to a better use than just collecting dust. Plea-"

His sentence was cut off by Victor stepping forwards, and kissing him gently on the lips.

"I'll come back for you, Yuuri. I-"

"Yuuri? Yuuri, where are you?" The call of a young man made its way through the trees.

"That's Phichit."

Victor hugged Yuuri tightly.

"See you soon, zolotose."

And then Victor disappeared into the night.

…

"Hey,Victor!" Mila called to the silver haired man as he made his way down the tunnel "We've almost packed up all the gold."

"Leave it." Victor muttered, staring off into the distance with a starstruck face.

"What?" Yurio asked in a cold, quiet voice

"Leave it." Victor touched his heart "I have everything I need."

Mila lunged forwards to restrain Yurio, who was just about to launch himself at Victor.

"Listen here, old man!" Yurio screeched, trying in vain to kick Mila off him "I had to dress up AS A CAT SPIRIT! IF YOU TRY AND TELL ME THAT WAS ALL FOR NOTHING, YOU BETTER GET READY FOR SOME SERIOUS PAIN!"

"Glad to see that you changed your mind" Georgi said demurely, walking forwards "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go and introduce myself to Anya, the love of my life"

That night, as the ship left the harbour, Victor made a silent promise to Yuuri. That soon, he'd come back for him- and they'd live happily ever after.

 **The next morning:**

"Ouchhhh" Yuuri groaned as he sat up, clutching his head. What happened last night? After the seventh glass of champagne, it was all blank.

That's when Yuuri noticed the distinct absence of a certain stone that was supposedto be around his neck.

Yuuri screamed.


	7. Chapter 7

It seemed early in the day when Yuuri woke up. The tiny porthole that Yuuri had discovered behind one of the tapestries a few days earlier showed the sun just rising out of the waves in the distance.

Absentmindedly, Yuuri reached up to his neck, and brushed his fingers against where his star stone necklace used to hang. Even though it was months ago that he lost it, Yuuri still felt the necklace's absence from time to time.

After he had woken up the next day, he had, admittedly very sheepish and ashamed, had told Phichit that he had lost the necklace.

This had resulted in Phichit being far too overdramatic, and instead of keeping this 'hush hush' or 'just between them', Phichit had stormed up to the highest tower, holding a saucepan and a spoon, and, basically, made the loudest noise he could, all while screeching 'GET YO BUTTS IN ACTION, PEOPLE! MY BEST FRIEND'S NECKLACE HAS GONE MISSING, AND I EXPECT TO SEE RESULTS! DO YOU WANT THIS GODDAMM SPOON HITTING YOU ON THE HEAD?"

Since it was a fairly quiet and still morning, Phichit's yells had echoed all around the castle, and all of the servants had sighed, and rolled their eyes at Phichit's antics, but had pitched in to search. Not so much because of their fear of Phichit's spoon, but because of their kindness, which had in no way been exploited during their time at the castle.

Long story short, they never found the necklace.

Yuuri's parents, and Mari all offered to cut a piece off their own stones to replace Yuuri's, but he had declined.

He didn't want them to have to pay for him being careless while drunk- Yuuri had to take care of his own problems.

But now he was away from the castle, his family and friends, Yuuri felt like that star stone would have been his only link back home.

Now who was he?

A failure of a prince who somehow got himself captured by pirates?

Suddenly, there was a series of pathetic knocks on the door, accompanied by the beautiful sound of a full grown man crying like a baby.

 _Georgi._

"Yes?" Yuuri called out, opting to not question Georgi on his tears

"Y-you're wanted on deck." Georgi managed to get out, cracking the door open, and poking his face out.

Yuuri immediately hopped up from bed, and stretched out. He was tired of being stuck in a cabin for the last few days. If he wanted to earn the captain's trust, he'd have to prove himself in one way or another. Then he could escape easily.

Yet, for some reason, the thought of leaving Victor sent a dull ache to Yuuri's stomach.

"Coming" Yuuri said monotonously, deciding to not think any further on the topic.

…

Victor sat in the crow's nest with his spyglass in hand, occasionally using it to quickly have a glimpse of Yuuri mending a sail on the deck.

Next to Yuuri, Yurio and Otabek stood, keeping close watch to make sure he didn't go anywhere. The former had a terrifying expression on his face, which somehow softened when the latter tapped him on the shoulder, and said something to him in his usual stoic tone.

Victor groaned, and whacked his head against the side of the crow's nest.

"What is it, mon amie?" Chris asked from where he was hanging off the rigging nearby. He'd been banished there by Lilia as punishment for making too many highly suggestive jokes in her presence.

Which he was currently in the process of painting on the sails (along with a few….pictures), because this is Christophe and that is just what Christophe does.

As a captain he should be trying to stop him, but Victor currently had his hands full with a certain dark haired prince. Speaking of a certain dark haired prince…..Victor started to raise his spyglass again.

A few splatters of black paint landed in Victor's hair, prompting him to squeal and immediately rub his hair.

"Victor" Chris rolled his eyes from where he had flicked the paintbrush "I asked you why you were spying from up here when you could be down there, chatting up the love of your life."

Victor huffed, and looked over at Chris, deliberately keeping his eyes off the sails, because he _really_ does not want to see that.

"I _will._ But right now, Yuuri is out in broad daylight, and this is where I can keep a good eye out for other ships."

"Riiiiiiighhhhht." Chris rolled his eyes once more (he seemed to have it down to a fine art), and continued "Of course this would have _nothing_ to do with the fact that you are having a self-proclaimed bad hair day today, right?"

"What, so I want to look my best in front of Yuuri! That's not a big deal!"

"The day you met with him in private, you came banging on my door at five in the morning, demanding that I help you pick an outfit. You really-"

Chris was interrupted by a bark from far below.

Victor glanced down….and screeched, reaching for his spyglass, and shoving it to his eye.

The scene down below was amazing.

Yuuri was laying sprawled out on the deck, the sail knocked out of his hands. Above him, was Makkachin, barking happily, and nuzzling Yuuri.

"So….. _CUTE!"_ Victor breathed, leaning on the wooden side of the crow's nest with an adoring expression.

As he smiled at Yuuri, Victor could hear Chris resuming his crude painting, with a mutter of something that sounded something along the lines of

"So whipped"

…

Yuuri laughed as he pushed Makkachin off him, giving the dog a big hug as he picked up the sail and resumed working.

This reminded him of the time Phichit had somehow convinced Yuuri that stitching all the bedsheets together and climbing out of the window would be a _great_ idea- it wasn't.

Yuuri had broken his collarbone.

Phichit had broken their guard's will to live.

It was a bonding experience.

Suddenly there was a cooing noise beside Yuuri- he turned around to see Yurio sitting cross-legged on the floor, holding up a cat like it was Simba.

Otabek said something about cat food to Yurio, got up, and left, with one glance backwards.

After a second, Yurio carefully brought his cat (was its name Potya?") down, and held it out towards Yuuri, simply saying

"Hold her"

Cautiously, Yuuri leaned over, and took Potya, cradling her close to his chest.

"Why?"

"She likes you" Yurio simply answered, standing up, and running over to where Otabek was returning in the distance.

Yuuri blinked, and looked down at the cat he was holding. The fur seemed to glint in the midday sun.

"CHRISTOPHE!" A loud yell reverberated through the air, causing the cat Yuuri was holding to hiss and run away.

An older woman stood out on deck, staring in horror at the sails which were….okay, yeah, Yuuri got why she was shouting. He quickly turned away, only to face…..Captain Nikiforov, who had a pirate had roughly stuffed on his head, and was holding a hand out to him.

"Fancy a swim?"


	8. Chapter 8

**Soooooooooo...it's been six months?**

 **I don't think there's much I can say except...sorry?**

 **Chapter updates should be more frequent from now on! (probably about one a week)**

 **Anyway...here's the chapter I was supposed to post in July...**

 **Enjoy!**

 **-Purecinnamonbun**

"Fancy a swim?"

The answer to those words should be no. A million times no. Nope, nopety, nope.

Unfortunately, Yuuri had never exactly been very good at listening to his voice of reason. The next thing he knew he was taking Victor's hand, ignoring how the beat of his heart was quickening.

Somehow this extremely risky gesture seemed to pay off when Victor beamed with a heart shaped smile.

Ten minutes later, Yuuri was splashing around in the sea below, tied to a rope that was attached to the ship and attempting to ignore _just_ how tanned Victor's chest really was. He just ended up reciting the same mantra over and over again in his head:

 _It's all to earn his trust and escape, it's all to earn his trust and escape, it's all to ear-_

"You know Yuuri, you really are well built"

Yuuri squeaked, tempted to dive under the water and never come back. On second thoughts, that was a bad idea. Yuuri was most definitely not a merman, and that would most definitely kill him.

"Um…you too? You have a nice…" _Come on brain, this was your time to shine_ "…forehead?"

His mind had failed him.

However, instead of looking confused at the strange compliment, Victor… started to cry?

"I knew it!" He wailed, clutching his forehead, as if attempting to shield it from Yuuri's view "It's huge isn't it? My hairline is _receding!"_

Then he slowly sunk under the water with a soft _plop,_ leaving Yuuri blinking and wondering what the hell just happened.

Followed by Yuuri panicking, grabbing around underwater until he found an arm, and dragging the captain back up.

And when Victor swooned against Yuuri's chest and breathed " _My hero",_ Yuuri ended up repeating over and over in his brain that he was a _prince_ and Vic- _Nikiforov_ was a _pirate_ and therefore his heart should just shut up.

Seconds later, Yurio leaned over the side of the ship.

"Oi, pig!" He screeched "Ready to come up?"

Victor pulled out of Yuuri's arms, and grinned at him. Yuuri's heart sped up.

He couldn't do this.

The second his feet hit the deck, he ran for his room, leaving Victor stumbling aboard behind him.

…..

After that disaster, Yuuri curled up in his room, and sorted through his thoughts.

He was a prince.

Victor was a pirate.

For some reason his plan to make Victor trust him had backfired, and had ended up with him trusting the other man enough to jump off a huge ship, and splash around in the sea with him.

Thunking his head back on the bedpost, Yuuri groaned.

 _Phichit was going to kill him_.

He could faintly hear noise from another part of the ship. The man-child, otherwise known as Georgi, seemed to be crying, two female voices (presumably Mila and Sara) were giggling, and Chris seemed to be shouting every dirty remark under the sun.

 _Typical_ , Yuuri thought, a faint smile overtaking his face.

And then that smile was gone, because this wasn't supposed to be typical. He wasn't supposed to know these people -laugh at these people. Yuuri frowned.

When had Nikiforov become Victor? When had Chris become a source of humour? When had…Yuuri got up, and tested his door handle. When had they stopped locking him into his room?

They were _pirates._

God, he missed Phichit. And Mari, and his parents, and every last one of his subjects.

He backed up, falling backwards onto his bed. His fists clenched, scrunching up his bedsheets.

He had to go home. Quickly.

Hours seemed to pass like that, Yuuri hugging his legs at the foot of the bed. At one point, Yurio entered, and asked if Yuuri wanted to come and eat with the crew. He replied that he wasn't hungry.

Yurio must have told everyone that Yuuri wanted some time alone, because he wasn't bothered after that by anyone.

He just lay, in half a daze, tears slowly building at the corners of his eyes before spilling down his cheeks. The room, which was once a prison, was now Yuuri's only escape from the mess he'd made.

 _He was in too deep._

Eventually moonlight spilled through the small windows, casting criss crossed patterns onto Yuuri's skin, and finally awaking him from his stupor.

Shaking his head from side to side, he scrubbed at his eyes. He needed to clear his head.

Thankfully, Yuuri's door was still unlocked, and he softly shut it behind him as he exited his room, his hand sliding off the smooth, cool, wood handle.

He crept through the passages, as quiet as a mouse. He didn't want to disturb the crew. He could hear soft murmuring behind Emil's door, so he backed up and went a different way.

The moment he arrived on deck, he walked over to the rail on the side of the ship, his soft footfalls barely making any sound. The night air was cold on his cheeks and bare neck.

Yuuri looked out at the water, which lapped softly against the side of the ship, as black as ink.

The night before he was captured, he'd had the exact same view.

Gripping the railing with one hand, Yuuri rubbed his face with the other. How had he even ended up here?

"Couldn't sleep?" A voice interrupted his thoughts. When Yuuri turned around, there stood the root of all his problems, on the not-quite-deserted deck, silver hair glittering under the moonlight.

It was then that he realised that, despite being out alone on the deck, he hadn't even thought of escaping once.

….

Victor would like to say that the power of love woke him from his sleep, and led him to Yuuri.

It had in fact been Yurio, who had been on night watch, screeching at him. The actual waking up part also wasn't very pleasant, as it consisted of Yurio dumping a bucket of salt water over his blanket, and announcing that 'The pig is outside, and knowing you, you probably want to have some disgustingly sappy conversation with him'.

Well he hadn't been _wrong._

The moonlight made Yuuri look almost ethereal, and Victor had to take deep breaths in order to not get down on one knee and propose right there and then.

Instead, he made some comment about sleeping, and joined Yuuri as he looked at the water.

"Not really" Yuuri said in a soft tone "I was just… thinking."

His eyes looked red.

"About your family?" Victor questioned gently, and by the look on Yuuri's face, he had been right. "I-"

He was cut off by a loud sound from somewhere close by, that sounded suspiciously like…

"CANNONFIRE!" Yurio screamed from up in the crow's nest "GET DOWN!"


	9. Chapter 9

After Yurio's call, the world seemed to slow. Yuuri stood frozen, his hands gripping the side of the ship so tightly, his knuckles turned white.

Then Victor sprang into action. He snatched Yuuri's wrist, and started pulling him along roughly, shouting orders to the crew.

The shouting around Yuuri fell to deaf ears, as he looked up at Victor's face.

Now he could see where all the rumours had come from.

Victor's face was pulled into a vicious sneer, his eyes steely and glinting with the intent to kill. The hand around Yuuri's wrist was so tight, it felt like it would snap. He walked with terrifying authority- the sort of fashion that conveyed _just_ how many ways he could kill you. He was no longer Victor. He was Captain Nikiforov.

A chill went down Yuuri's spine.

Chris, looking far more serious than Yuuri had ever seen him hurried past, his face almost as vicious as Victor's. All traces of the easy-going, filthy-joke cracking man had disappeared. Anybody who didn't know Chris would see him as the prime example of a ruthless pirate.

Yuuri's feet stumbled over the deck, being tugged along at such a swift pace, he could hardly keep up. He saw Mickey and Emil embracing tightly, clearly trying to reassure each other about whatever fight was about to occur. Nearby, Otabek had his hand on Yurio's shoulder, and was speaking in a low, reassuring voice.

And finally, just as he and Victor reached the door to the cabins there was another huge explosion that rocked the whole ship, moving the sails off-kilter.

"Minor damage to the rudder, Captain!" Leo hollered from where he was distantly hanging in the rigging "Should we retaliate?!"

Victor didn't answer, allowing Yurio to call some sort of reply, instead bundling Yuuri forwards, and shutting the door behind them. Once there, he let the door close behind them, and let out a deep breath, resting his head on Yuuri's chest as he breathed out. The bone-chilling façade dropped.

"That damn JJ." Victor mumbled, his fists clenching on the fabric of Yuuri's shirt. "I should've known that he'd find out that I got to you first."

He then released him very suddenly, stood back, and stared at Yuuri for a minute, fire burning in his eyes.

There was another explosion, and Yuuri had to fight to not be thrown against the wall. Leaning forward, Victor steadied him, allowing the hand he used to linger on Yuuri's shoulder.

Yuuri looked straight back at Victor, his heart beating so loudly, it was barely obscured by the cacophonous noise that was taking place outside.

Victor's hand moved to gently tilt Yuuri's chin upwards, and he used his other hand to gently brush away a piece of hair from Yuuri's forehead.

"I know I haven't given you much of a reason to like me" Victor expressed in a hesitant voice, and he was close, so close "But I promise you Yuuri. I _will_ keep you safe."

His eyes, as blue as crystal lagoons, bored into Yuuri for a second more, before slowly, carefully moving forwards, giving Yuuri a chance to move away.

Yuuri didn't move.

Why didn't he move?

Then Victor's lips touched his own.

Ah. That's why he didn't move.

A warm feeling bloomed in Yuuri's chest, and he stepped forwards slightly, his hand shakily coming to rest in Victor's hair, gently kissing him back.

Victor kissed him slowly, languidly, as if they had all the time in the world. He seemed to be blocking Yuuri from the shouts, and clashing metal of outside.

They stood, intertwined, as if the rest of the world didn't matter.

The moment ended far too quickly.

Stepping backwards, Victor looked at Yuuri with a quiet smile.

"Please stay here, Yuuri" he said, quelling Yuuri's objections with a look "I _know_ that you're capable of fighting, of holding a sword. But these pirates want one thing, and that thing is you. Promise me, Yuuri?"

Unable to form words, Yuuri gave a short nod.

"Thank you." And then Victor was gone, leaving Yuuri alone in the now suddenly too-big room.

….

Yurio swiftly disarmed one opponent after another, striking them to the ground with the hilt of his sword. He and Beka stood back to back, poised, swords up.

Victor and Yuuri had disappeared somewhere near the beginning of the battle. At first, Yurio hadn't begrudged them this- after all, he'd wanted to spend a few minutes with Beka prior to the battle. But as the minutes ticked on, their opponents coming on thick and fast, Yurio started to grit his teeth a bit.

"Left side!" Yurio called to Beka, who ducked, then swung, knocking the sword out of the man's hand, and sending him overboard. "Nice one"

 _They could really use the help of the old man right about now…_

Mila danced past, her sword moving so quickly, it was a blur. Nearby, Mickey was loading up the cannons, while Sara and Emil defended him. Georgi had apparently had a breakdown in the middle of the battle, and was now perched on a barrel, sobbing, while one of JJ's men patted him on the back, and offered advice.

As for the so called King himself…

"Hiding on his ship with his fiancée, the pathetic excuse for a pirate" Yurio ground out, allowing Beka to spin him away from the path of another enemy.

After slamming him to the ground, Yurio grabbed the man by his hair, and screamed "OI! Ya hear me? Your boss is a feeble _coward!_ "

" _Yura!_ " Beka sharply said from behind him.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry" Yurio released the man and looked around. His face paled. During the time that he'd been looking away, the crowd around them had nearly tripled.

There was no chance they could take on this many.

The man closest to Yurio raised his sword, prepared to swing down, and…..

 _CLANG_

"Am I late to the party?" a certain silver haired idiot asked, moving his sword back into position.

The throng surrounding Beka and Yurio took a step back, clearly intimidated.

The old man was an idiot, but at least he was a somewhat competent idiot.

In a few minutes, all the intruders were tied up, and laying on the floor, groaning. Dawn broke over the aftermath of the fight. The edges of the ship had been fractured by cannonballs (JJ had never been good at aiming), the rudder was fractured, and the figurehead at the front of the ship was completely blown off. The inside of the ship had also had its fair share of wear and tear, with the amount of slashing blades and knives that had been in it.

Some of Victor's crew positioned themselves in the rigging that hadn't been cut, ready to swing across to the other ship and confront JJ head on.

But Victor just stood, gazing off into space, two fingers touching his lips. A blissful smile was overtaking his face. Yurio was ready to walk over there, and tell the man exactly how disgusting he was being, but the moment he made a move forwards, Beka grabbed his hand and pulled him back, shaking his head.

A few seconds later, Victor's attention was caught by Chris whistling, and making some sort of suggestive comment.

Yurio leaned back against Beka's chest, and allowed the taller man to pull his arms around his waist. He looked up from where his head was tucked under Beka's chin.

"Do you want to join the crew that goes over?" Beka asked in a low, calm voice. Yurio took in Beka's appearance- the shadows under his eyes, the shallow cuts along his arms and jawline where he hadn't been able to get out of the way in time, the way Beka slumped on him as if he was so tired he was barely able to stand.

"No. I want to go get some rest." Yurio gently took Beka's hand, and tugged him towards the cabin, where he resolved to make sure that Beka slept until at least noon.


	10. Chapter 10

Hours later, Yuuri was rubbing his face and trying not to yawn, leaning against the wooden slats of the crow's nest, where he had squirreled himself away. Although he was tired, the thought of returning to his dim, claustrophobic cabin made him shudder. And even going below deck would bring back the memories of Victor…Yuuri touched his lips, and the corners of his lips twitched upwards slightly. Thinking back on it, it just seemed so _normal._ Like it was a thing he and Victor had been doing for years. Although thinking about it somehow managed to make his heart do strange things. In order to have some time to think over that development, he'd decided to find some secluded place on the ship. So, while the others had been discussing boarding JJ's ship, Yuuri had somehow clambered up the rigging (earning a few rope burns in the process), and curled up in the miraculously empty space. Warm noon sun shined on his face, making the thought of closing his eyes even more attractive. Yawning, he focused on the conversations he could overhear from metres below.

"Got _away?_ " Victor's voice rang out in a shrill tone "How could you have lost an entire _ship?_ "

"I…We were d-debating what to do with the p-prisoners!" Victor's conversation partner, who Yuuri could now recognise as Minami weakly protested, sounding almost scared out of his wits, his voice barely a squeak "And…and th-then, while we were t-t-talking, the sh-ship just…d-disappeared"

A third voice-Guang Hong- joined in, seemingly shielding Minami from Victor, and asking "Should we throw the prisoners in the brig, sir?"

"Obviously" Victor said with no hesitation "Next time we reach land to re-stock, we'll leave them there. And make them panic a bit, will you? It'll do them good to realise that they shouldn't cross anyone on the _Stamni Vicino"_

Yuuri found himself tuning out of the conversation. The brig. He'd spent some time in there when he was first captured, and he could safely say that it wasn't a pleasant experience. Not like it was exactly set up for rich living- it was for prisoners after all.

Hang on.

Prisoner.

Yuuri was a prisoner.

Why wasn't Yuuri in the brig? Why was he allowed to freely walk on the deck? Blinking, he sat up, and rested his head in his hands. Why was he allowed to be on his own, fully unsupervised, without the crew even batting one eyelid wondering where he was?

Wasn't he supposed to be up for ransom? Instead, he was being treated more like…

"A part of the crew!" A voice somewhere in front of him chirped.

Yuuri snapped his head up, and his eyes locked onto brown eyes, and blond hair, complete with a thick red stripe across the front.

"Minami" Yuuri smiled, his short-lived panic ebbing away slightly. The small ball of energy _really_ didn't fit the typical pirate stereotype, instead spending his time messing around in the rigging, or being entranced by shiny things. He'd grown attached to Yuuri over his time on the ship, and sometimes took to tailing him everywhere, eyes shining. Yuuri found him similar to a young Phichit, which was both comforting and a little eerie. "Sorry. What were you saying?"

Minami beamed, his signature tooth poking out slightly at the side of his mouth, and a slight tint of red on his cheeks "You're really like a part of the crew now!" He fully swung himself into the crow's nest and tucked himself beside Yuuri, both of them uncomfortably pressed up against the wooden slats "Keeping a watch in the crow's nest and all that."

Yuuri hesitated, before asking "Minami..? How…How much was the ransom that the Captain asked for my life?"

After all, a ransom had to have been the reason he was captured. He hadn't been killed yet, or sold off as a slave. But ransom for a prince…the thought of the sheer amount of gold that would have been asked made Yuuri nauseous. He hoped his family had the common sense not to pay it.

He'd escape by himself.

Escape…

When was the last time Yuuri truly thought about escaping the ship?

"Ransom?" Minami broke Yuuri out of his swirling thoughts, blinking owlishly "I don't think Victor asked for one"

Yuuri laughed- but even to him, it sounded forced "I'm not dead yet, am I? Why else would Victor bother to capture me?"

"Maybe he forgot?" Minami proffered in an optimistic tone "Victor's very forgetful. Once he left Yurio on a deserted island for two weeks before remembering that he was there, and going to pick him up"

"I don't think you can really forget about the fact that you have a way to make a _lot_ of gold kept on your ship."

 _Why was he here?_

"Victor's never been all that obsessed with gold" Minami scraped his hair out of his face, and looked up, his smile becoming softer "He's just obsessed with freedom. He was an orphan, y'know, and grew up on the streets. When the chance came to get away from that life, he just took it"

 _Why was Victor keeping him around, if not to empty the Royal Treasuries?_

Yuuri felt like all the breath had been knocked out of him "But…the stealing, and the killing and the…" Saying it out loud made it even more difficult to imagine. Most of the time, Victor was easy-going, forgetful, painfully oblivious to the world around him. He'd only seen Victor as terrifying once…but only when those around him were threatened.

"Those rumours are mostly spread by other pirates who try to attack us." Hopping up, Minami gripped the rigging behind him "Victor tends to be a tad…aggravated when people try to hurt the people he cares about. And as far as I know, he's only tried to steal once. That attempt…didn't work. Like, failed _spectacularly"_

Yuuri tried to smile, nod, and contribute to the rest of the conversation-God knew that boy liked to talk- but in reality, his head was spinning with this new development. Why the hell was he even _here_ if not for a ransom? He bid good-bye to Minami after a few more minutes, descending the rigging in a dream-like state. He wandered over to the prow, and gripped it so tightly, his knuckles turned white.

Then he suddenly let go, and slumped down, resting his full body weight on the ship.

If there was nothing Victor was getting out of him being here, then there was no point keeping him. Since they _were_ keeping him, there was no point letting him leave.

Would Yuuri _ever_ get to see his family again?

Mari, Minako, his parents, Phichit, even _Morooka._

Gritting his teeth, Yuuri swallowed. He wouldn't cry. He wouldn't grant them the satisfaction.

Slowly, yet certainly, the feelings of despair and isolation became _anger_. Who was Victor to keep him as his personal _pet_ , cutting Yuuri away from his family, and everyone he loved? Who was he to take Yuuri for _no reason_ other than the _novelty_ of having a _crown prince_ on board? Other than the _game_ of _who could get closest?_

He was shaking now, hands crossed and gripping his arms, as if attempting to keep himself from falling to pieces.

It was as if the rug had been pulled out from under him, and he was drowning, in bottomless, chilling, inescapable, water.

How calculated had those heart-shaped smiles been? How arranged had it been for him to befriend the crew? How planned were those late night conversations? How, and all of a sudden it was hard to breathe, how far had that kiss been plotted, to take _advantage_ of Yuuri's weak points? Afterwards, Victor had most likely been laughing with the rest of the crew, declaring how _easy_ it was to win Yuuri's affection, how _simple_ to manipulate a prince's heart.

He couldn't help but chuckle bitterly. How ironic, considering it was exactly what he had planned to do in the beginning. To win the trust of Victor- no, _Captain Nikiforov_ , and use that trust for his own ends.

Breathing deeply, Yuuri released himself, and stood upright, striding across the deck as if he hadn't a care in the world. He even threw out a casual greeting to Guang Hong along the way.

The first chance he got, he'd be off this ship, and back into the company of those who _truly_ cared for him.

Curse him, and his traitorous, _traitorous_ heart.

…

Victor clutched his heart and sighed dreamily as Yuuri passed by his window, a somewhat off expression on his face. It was most likely the result of the lunch Minami had produced after being let loose in the kitchens while the rest of the crew discussed JJ. They should _never_ let that boy anywhere near a stove in the _indefinite_ future.

"Mooning after a certain _someone,_ cherie _?"_ Chris asked, leaning against Victor's chair with a sultry grin on his face.

"I can't help it!" Victor felt a smile overtake his face, against his will "I can't help but feel that I'm getting closer and closer to my happy ending"


	11. Chapter 11

Days passed, and Yuuri managed to avoid almost all interaction with Victor. He pretended to be ill for the first day, and told Sara that he really just _couldn't_ have any visitors. Victor had come to see him anyway, quietly poking his head in the door while Yuuri was pretending to sleep. To check on him. Make sure he was okay. In actual fact, it was most likely to be certain that Yuuri would be well enough for when they reached the next port, and Yuuri was inevitably sold off for more money than Hasetsu could ever pay for a ransom.

Yuuri had ignored the urge to run to Victor and pull him into another long kiss. It was as if his heart hadn't caught up to the fact that whatever he thought Victor was feeling for him _wasn't real._ The thoughts that Yuuri was drowning in were enough to _actually_ make him ill, and unable to leave his bed for the second day either.

 _Of course Victor would never love you._

The next day was spent with Yuuri hiding anywhere he could on the ship- he even spent a few hours in the brig that he was thrown into when he first arrived. Knowing the only reason that Victor rescued him from that boat was so that Yuuri wouldn't die before Victor could make use out of him.

 _No one could ever love you._

He ended up punching at a wooden beam for an hour, and ended up with bloody knuckles.

 _Worthless._

On the fourth day, Yuuri wasn't so lucky. Apparently Victor couldn't just let Yuuri try to vanquish his feelings in peace, and had invited Yuuri to a dinner. There had been short, stilted conversation at the beginning, as Yuuri answered whatever Victor said to him as shortly as possible. Eventually the room became silent, with Victor cracking a weak joke every now and then. Victor smiled, but his eyes betrayed him, with sadness behind them. Yuuri wanted to hug him, tell him everything was okay, that Yuuri loved him.

He didn't.

That expression had probably been carefully schooled. Or Victor was just confused as to why Yuuri wasn't as easy to lull into a false sense of security as usual. As soon as he could, Yuuri excused himself, dismissing all of Victor's objections.

He ignored the tears on his cheeks.

Unfortunately, Yurio, who stood unbeknownst to Yuuri at the entrance to his own cabin, did not.

…..

Victor had been writing up a report on the contents of their stores when Yurio accosted him.

"There's something wrong with Katsudon."

Victor's pen stilled for a moment, and his face twisted a little before it returned to a blank expression, and he continued writing.

"I know"

Yurio waited a second more, but the old man didn't come out with anything further. He just kept slowly moving his pen, half slumped against his desk. Infuriating.

Yurio grabbed Victor's arm and hauled him upright, giving him a mighty shove towards the door "Fix it!"

But instead of getting his ass in gear, and going to see the pig like Yurio had hoped, Victor just slammed against the door, and slid down it slowly, ending up in a foetal position, hugging his knees.

Yurio clenched his fists. Victor _had_ to fix it. He was the one closest to the damn prince after all. And, as much as Yuri hated to admit it, he was also growing attached to Katsudon's presence. Not that he'd ever say it.

Sighing, Yurio crouched down to Victor's level, about to start lecturing him, when he noticed the steady drips of water onto the floor. And glancing up, sure enough, Victor's eyes were screwed up and he was sobbing, the tears marring his otherwise handsome face.

"Vi-?"

"I don't _know,_ Yuri!" Victor hissed, his head in his hands, still letting out shaking sobs and gasps "I don't know what I _did_. He… he seemed happy! And then after we k ….k ….k"

His speech broke up, and he was back to unintelligibly weeping on the floor.

Yurio bit his lip hard. Curse the old man for almost making him break out in tears himself. Curse Yuuri for creating the damn problem in the first place. He lowered himself besides Victor, and wrapped his arms around him.

"You really are pathetic" He muttered under his breath, Victor shaking in his arms. They'd find a way to help with whatever was bothering Katsudon. Even if he thought the two lovebirds were disgusting sometimes, seeing the way they acted apart was even worse. He sighed. Beka would probably know how to deal with this far better than him. And he would never admit to hugging Victor, not even on his own death bed. But sometimes needs overruled pride.

"It'll be okay, Victor. It'll be okay."

…

Chris stood in the doorway for a moment, staring at Victor and Yurio crying on the floor. As soon as he caught up to what was happening, he stepped back, and soundlessly closed the door behind him, deciding that neither Victor nor Yurio would want anyone else seeing them at their moment of weakness.

He rubbed a hand across his face. Honestly. Sometimes he wondered why he was even on this ship. He liked a bit of drama, but recently it had been becoming a little much, even for him. Turning, he looked over at where Yuuri was standing at the front of the ship, staring at the waves. He resisted walking over to him and making a suggestive comment. Yuuri didn't seem like he was in the mood to laugh.

In fact, looking around, it didn't seem like _anyone_ was in the mood to laugh. Leo and Guang Hong were both fixing a sail silently, none of their usual banter to be seen. Minami was perched on the rigging, staring upwards at the overcast sky, and even Mickey was taking a break from his non-stop angry state to lean against the mast, looking depressed.

Seung Gil looked as emotionless as always, the bastard.

Shaking his head, Chris continued on, towards the wheel, and took it from Otabek. He hoped that whatever issue there was, it wouldn't be around for long. Frankly, being around all of the gloom was starting to dampen his own sense of humour. Huffing once more, he turned the wheel slowly, and called out to the crew as they began to near port.

…..

 _Tap, tap, tap._

Was it midnight? Yuuri didn't know. It was pitch black in his cabin.

 _Tap, tap, tap._

How long had it been since he last talked to Victor properly? Not since the silent dinner they had together.

 _Tap, tap, tap_

Yuuri's heart ached.

Sitting upright, Yuuri ceased drumming on the wooden bedpost. Despite the fact that he was swathed in warm blankets, he still felt cold.

 _Sorry, Mari. Sorry Dad, sorry Mom. Sorry Phichit._

Sorry for falling in love with a pirate. Sorry for not wanting to leave, even though he knew what was coming next.

Yuuri rested his head on his knees.

 _Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry._

They'd reached a port earlier that day. Tomorrow…who knew what would happen? Yuuri slid himself out of bed in a split second decision. Maybe if he went to the deck, Victor would be there. Maybe they could talk. Maybe Yuuri could kiss Victor once more, while the game was still on.

Yuuri pulled on some clothes and silently made his way to the door, then hesitated for a second before he reached for the handle. Would it be locked? They were at port, after all. It wasn't like the open sea, when Yuuri had nowhere to escape to.

The handle turned, and Yuuri stepped out into the corridor.

Seconds later, Yuuri was out on the deck. Unlike the previous times he'd been out after dark, it seemed that there was nobody on watch. Whoever it was supposed to be had probably headed for a bar on the mainland.

Other than for him, the deck was deserted.

Yuuri stepped towards the side of the ship slowly. When he passed Victor's cabin, he stopped for a second. The light was still on. Maybe he could…no. No.

Victor wasn't out. That was probably a good thing. Yuuri wasn't good enough for him anyway. Who would want the dime-a-dozen Yuuri Katsuki?

By the time he reached the side of the ship, there were silent tears streaking down his face, and his heart was at war with itself. It just hurt….so much.

Looking out, beyond the ship, there was a small gap, where Yuuri could see the inky black waves, and then a wooden dock, leading to the mainland.

It was a split second decision. If Yuuri thought it over any more, he wouldn't have been able to do it.

He drew his cloak around him, and pulled his hood up. Wiping the still-flowing tears from his face, he turned towards the ship, and murmured a hoarse "Goodbye, Victor. I…I love you."

Then he jumped.


	12. Chapter 12

As soon as Yuuri's feet hit the wooden boardwalk, he was running, face screwed up and tears trickling from his eyes and flying backwards across his face and dripping behind him as he dashed forwards. Why was he crying? He should be jumping for joy at finally being able to escape the ship he had been trapped on for the last few months. But instead…Yuuri ground to a halt, and turned, swallowing. Behind him, the ship looked almost ethereal. Untouchable. Grand, stately- everything a pirate ship should be. The sort of ship that, had Yuuri seen before he was kidnapped, he would have stayed well away from.

It became even harder to breathe, and Yuuri began to choke back his tears for fear of breaking down completely, and running back to the ship, getting back in his bed, and seeing Victor again the next day. Yuuri wanted that more than he would ever admit to anyone, even himself. But he couldn't go back. At dawn, Yuuri would have seen Victor's smiling face turn cold and distant as he cast Yuuri aside for a hefty sum.

Yuuri hated himself even more for beginning to doubt that Victor would ever do something like that. He was a _pirate._ And that is what pirates did. Yuuri took one last look at the ship, burning it into his memory through his tear-blurred vision, before slowly, achingly, forcing himself to twist back around, and continue trudging forwards, his feet a thousand times heavier, hands clenched by his side.

Once he reached the end of the boardwalk, and the edge of the town, Yuuri wasn't sure what to do. The town centre was probably teeming with members from the ship, as they enjoyed themselves after a long journey with no breaks at port. Looking around him, Yuuri caught a glance of his reflection in a nearby window, and winced. His hair stuck up in every direction from where it had been tousled by the wind, and his sleeves and cloak were ripped from when he clambered over the side of the ship. His face was tear streaked, and his eyes were red. Not the ideal picture for convincing someone that you were a prince. Smoothing down his ragged clothing and hair, Yuuri took a deep breath. And another one, and another one. He was okay. He was alive, and if his heart burned, that didn't matter. He'd find a way to get home, and then he'd forget about the ship, and the crew members, and…Victor.

Wiping his hand over his face once, to ensure it was dry, Yuuri began to make his way into town, head bent low, and hair flicked across his eyes, hiding them from view of onlookers. He needed a haircut. When he got back to Hasetsu, the second thing he'd do (after probably crying his eyes out), is ask Mari to sit him down, and cut his hair like she always had done. It was the thought of _normal_ and _home_ that kept Yuuri from turning back once more.

Where was he even walking _to?_ He passed a sign bearing the name ' _Napolina'_ , and he almost visibly groaned. There was a whole ocean separating Napolina and Hasetsu. To get home, even if he managed to charter a ship as well built and fast as the _Stamni Vicino,_ it would still be months until he saw his family once more.

It was at this point that the weight of everything that had happened overcame Yuuri, and he sank down on the side of the street and began to sob. To anyone else, it probably looked like he was merely a drunk, crying over how unfair the world was. But instead, he was a prince, who was crying over the loss of his family, his friends… _Victor._

He stayed on the corner of that street for a long time. Eventually, he lifted up his sleeve and scrubbed away his tears with a sort of fierce anguish, as if trying to erase the fact that they had been there in the first place. He rose from his Corner Of Shame (as he later dubbed it), repeating words over and over in his mind, a mantra that drove the pain away, leaving numbness in its wake.

 _You_ will _see your family again_

 _You_ won't _see the pirates again_

 _Victor doesn't love you_

 _The kiss was a lie_

 _You weren't good enough anyway_

One foot after another. He'd see his family again. Another step. He wouldn't see the pirates again. Another step. But did it even matter becauseVictordoesn'tlovehimand thekisswasalieandhewasnevergoodenoughanywayand and and…

Yuuri had reached the centre of town without even realising it. Exhaling the breath he didn't even know he was holding, he turned to where a guard was stood, standing stock-still, protecting the marketplace.

"Excuse me, could you possibly-"

"YURIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII"

He was cut off, and panic began to work its way up his throat.

"YURIIIIIIIIIIIIIII" Chris called once more, and as he came into view, it became clear that he was steaming drunk, and calling to an angered Yurio who was a few strides ahead. Yuuri's posture relaxed slightly, and tucked himself backwards into a lone alley, out of sight. Even if Chris saw him right now, he was probably too drunk to realise. And Yurio seemed to have his hands full with taking care of the severely inebriated Chris.

No, the reason he didn't want to be seen was that even just speaking to a member of the crew, would bring Victor rushing back to the forefront of Yuuri's mind. Before he knew it, he would be high-tailing it back to the ship.

There were a few scraping noises from near Yuuri. Shuddering, he pressed himself against the wall, and retreated a little further into the tunnel. Probably rats.

Yurio and Chris passed by Yuuri's hiding place, coming so close that he could hear the stream of profanities that Yurio was muttering under his breath.

But then they were gone, and Yuuri was alone.

Ignoring the noises behind him (God, he hated rats), Yuuri found himself touching his neck, where he used to keep his star stone necklace. For some reason now, whenever he thought back to the day he lost it, a blurry image of a smiling Victor came into view. Victor had truly invaded his thoughts and mind.

Maybe he'd been wrong about Victor. Was he the sort of person to sell someone off? To play with someone?

It might fit the image of 'Captain Nikiforov' but it certainly didn't fit the 'Victor' that Yuuri had come to know and….love.

Love.

What was he doing here?

Shaking his head violently, Yuuri turned towards the mouth of the alley, and the brightly lit town. He was going to talk to Victor, like he should have done in the first place.

He was going back.

Nearing the end of the alley, Yuuri began to break out into an all-out run. Closer, closer, closer…

A heavy blow hit the back of Yuuri's head.

He fell to the ground, gasping from the unexpected strike, and craned his neck around to see his attacker, hand groping blindly for something he could use as a weapon. Had he really been so deep in thought he'd missed someone creeping up behind him? Assuming the noises to be rats instead of investigating further?

A foot stamped on Yuuri's outstretched palm, making him let out a hiss of pain.

"Well, well, well" murmured a strange, accented voice "Isn't Isabella going to be happy?" A face emerged from the gloom, and Yuuri's eyes widened as he took in his attacker.

" _It's JJ style"_

The world went black.

…

Victor awoke in the middle of the night, heart pounding out of his chest, and an endless stream of panic running through his head for no clear reason.

Attempting to slow his breathing, he sat up in his bed, blankets draped across his legs, exposing his pale chest to the moonlight. Running a hand through his hair, he stifled a yawn and slid out of bed, pulling on a shirt. Perhaps Yuuri would be outside on the deck, as he often was during these long, humid nights. They needed to have a talk anyway. With the way Yuuri had been acting recently, it was as if he had reset to how he was when he first met Victor. Only seeing him as _Captain Nikiforov_. Maybe all the signs he'd been interpreting as Yuuri liking him had been the opposite. It all came to a head with that kiss after all. After that, maybe Yuuri realised that he could never love Victor after all.

Victor could… accept that. He _could._ Even after falling in love with Yuuri all over again once he boarded the ship, Victor would do anything to make him happy. As soon as the threat of JJ taking Yuuri had been removed, he would return Yuuri back to his family. Then he'd disappear.

Maybe become a hermit in the mountains of some lone island. That sounded like it would be a fulfilling career.

For now at least, he needed to talk to Yuuri. Keeping him in the dark about the situation had only made things worse. He had to know that he _would_ be able to go home.

Although Victor hoped that , deep down, Yuuri knew that anyway.

Straightening his clothes, he stepped smartly outside of his cabin, and closed the door quietly behind him, frowning as he regarded the deck. He really needed to have a serious discussion with the crew about not shirking night duty when they were at port.

There was no sign of Yuuri on the deck. Tapping his finger against his lips, Victor considered going down to Yuuri's quarters and visiting him there, but decided quickly that he shouldn't interrupt Yuuri's beauty sleep. Not that he needed it.

Maybe he should just talk to Yuuri in the morning. They'd have a one-on-one serious discussion, and then they'd kiss and no _bad Victor, BAD._

In any case, things would probably be clearer then.

Placing one hand on the metal doorknob, warm under the night's heat, he opened the door back to his cabin.

" _Victor! VICTOR!"_

Yurio skidded in front of him, panting, face flushed from where he'd obviously been running.

Victor smiled in a fake, half sort of way "Is this a special occasion? You never call me Vi-"

" _Victor!_ " Yurio's face was pale and ashen "He..room..missing… _gone…"_

Looking at Yurio fully for the first time, Victor could tell that something was amiss. He was missing his trademark self-assured manner, his hair was stuck against his face with sweat, and his eyes were swimming with fear and panic. There was a _distinct_ lack of swearing. He looked like he was on the verge of dissolving into tears.

"Hey" Victor reached out and grasped Yurio's shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting way "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Words seemed to momentarily fail Yurio. Then he swallowed, clutched Victor's arm and said "Come see for yourself" in a choked voice before dragging Victor down the stairs to Yuuri's room.

The door was laying open, and Victor slowly took in the scene inside while Yurio babbled in the background

"I was.. with Chris, and he was _really_ drunk, and I remembered that Yuuri knew how to make a hangover cure, so…so… I came down and he was just…"

Gone.

Yuuri was gone.

Strangely, it didn't cause the sudden rush of emotions that Victor had expected. Instead, a slow numbness spread from his stomach throughout his body, and he stood for a moment watching the scene.

Footsteps came rattling down the stairs.

"Captain! Are you..oh"

Emil.

Victor realised belatedly that he had dropped to his knees.

He placed his hands on the floor to steady himself.

"Should we… go after him?" Emil enquired in a gentle voice.

"No" Victor's voice came out stronger than he expected "No. He made his choice. Leave him… leave him be."

He turned towards Yurio, and in a slightly stronger voice, imparted "We sail at daybreak"

He stood up, and began to ascend the stairs, ignoring his fellow crew members.

When he reached the deck, he looked at the moon. Yuuri could probably see it too.

"Goodbye, Yuuri" He murmured, kissing his two fingers and holding them up to the sky.

Then the waves of emotion hit, and Victor broke down into tears.


	13. Chapter 13

Yuuri didn't know what time it was when he woke up. The room was dingy, and obviously hadn't been taken care of for a while. Mould was growing on the rotting wooden walls, and the beams holding up the ceiling looked about ready to give.

He was quite obviously on a ship, which he took in with his dazed mind, his head pounding from where he'd been struck. There was a slight rocking motion, which made the chair Yuuri was strapped to creak ominously. Unlike when he'd been captured on Victor's ship, there was no grate allowing sunlight or at least some brightness from the moon to enter. He was alone, in almost pitch black. The only light that was entering the room was from a slight crack underneath the door. And even that was barely enough to squint- it must have been from a candle left on a table somewhere.

When his throbbing head began to dull a little, Yuuri found himself capable of grasping the full severity of the situation at hand. He'd obviously been captured by some sort of pirates again, if the skull wearing a crown, crudely scratched into a nearby wall, was anything to go by. Pirates that… that weren't Victor. Even from the smell, Yuuri could clearly tell that this wasn't the ' _Stamni Vicino'._ Which meant that Yuuri was in a lot of trouble. He was certain that whatever pirates these were, they wouldn't have as much mercy and kindness as Victor. They wouldn't allow him to spend time up in the crow's nest, to walk the deck during the day… and they certainly wouldn't be lax enough to present even the smallest means of escape.

 _It's no use thinking about Victor_ Yuuri told himself firmly. _By now, he's probably worked out that you left. Frankly, he's probably glad to be rid of you._

Yuuri's previous plans to return to the _Stamni Vicino_ seemed to be inching farther and farther away in his mind. By now, he knew that his thoughts of Victor selling him off had probably been a fabrication on his part, caused by his tendency to overthink almost everything. But in any case, Victor was probably glad to be rid of an overbearing, obnoxious, incapable prince anyway.

 _You're doing it again_ Yuuri's brain informed him. _Stop thinking about Victor and get out of this situation._

Mentally giving his brain the finger, Yuuri began to survey the chair that he had been tied to. The rope was thick, and had been twisted into multiple, confusing knots that Yuuri wouldn't know the first thing about undoing. His feet had been tied to a chair leg each, and his arms were tied to the sides of the chair. Whoever had been in charge of doing it hadn't taken any chances. Experimentally, he tugged on the ropes. There seemed to be one knot, just behind his right hand, that was the tiniest bit looser than the others. If he could just reach…

Footsteps pounded nearby, and Yuuri allowed his head to loll to the side, closing his eyes as if he were asleep.

The door slammed open, and raucous laughter filled the room.

"Still out cold, I see" The voice was bold, and full of unaltered glee. It was strangely familiar "Well, I suppose he'll wake up soon enough."

There was movement as he turned to his companion. Yuuri peeked at him out of the corner of his eye. There were two of them it seemed, from the outline of their silhouettes. But then the lackey moved slightly, showcasing the fact that he was holding a limp body, grasped loosely in one hand. They still seemed to be breathing, judging by their heaving chest. The one in charge stepped forwards, and grabbed the body off of his companion, dragging it along the floor. Purposefully, Yuuri pushed away the thought of how many splinters that must have caused. There was a moment when their conversation dimmed a little, and they were speaking so low that Yuuri could only hear faint, indistinguishable murmurs. Finally, the lead pirate's voice raised again, almost screeching.

"HOW _DARE_ YOU UNDERESTIMATE ME? I AM KING _JJ!_ "

King JJ? Where had he heard that name before? JJ…JJ… ah. The self-entitled pirate, who once tried to break into the vault at the castle. They'd discovered him locked in the vault in the morning after Yuuri lost his star stone, sobbing about 'how the cat spirit was going to get him' or something along those lines. It seemed his crew had deserted him the night before, leaving him to the palace guards. He, of course, had been the primary suspect for stealing Yuuri's star stone, but upon a thorough search, it was nowhere to be found. His parents had wanted to lock JJ up for attempting to steal the gold from the palace vault, but Yuuri had talked them out of it. After all, JJ hadn't actually managed to steal anything.

Yuuri was very much regretting that decision now.

It seemed JJ's subordinate was back to talking now, as he stammered "N-no, your majesty, I d-didn't mean to…t-to…it's just…do we really need this one as w-well as the prince?"

"Of course" JJ said irritably, with an air of practiced arrogance "I have a _plan._ Now, I'm afraid I must return to my darling Isabella. _These two_ can keep each other company" With that, he flung the dark silhouette towards Yuuri's chair, almost sending Yuuri flying. The other prisoner skidded across the floor, finally coming to a halt centimetres from the wall. "Notify me when they wake up."

JJ swept out of the room, followed by his subordinate. The door swung shut, and Yuuri let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. Stealing a glance at his new cellmate, all he could make out was a faint outline. It looked like he'd been trussed up in a similar way to Yuuri though. A piece of fabric was stuffed in his mouth as a makeshift gag. Yuuri's breathing began to speed up as the panic set in. He had to get out. Although JJ was stupid, he was also ruthless. He didn't have the moral code of… of… a certain other pirate that Yuuri was acquainted with. He began feeling for the slightly looser knot, near his thumb. If he twisted enough he could just about reach it.

Several moments passed, with Yuuri struggling vainly with the knot, until it finally moved a little, before fully unravelling. Sighing, he flexed his aching, now free hand. One step closer. However, as soon as he began to move towards his left hand, the figure in the corner groaned, and rolled over slightly. It seemed that he'd finally woken up.

Freezing in his movement, Yuuri stared intensely at the intruder. Even if he was an enemy of JJ, he couldn't be sure that he was an ally of Yuuri. For all he knew, as soon as he was fully awake, he'd be murdered horrifically. Then he'd have no chance of seeing Victor or his family again.

The other prisoner spat his gag out, and struggled into a sitting position.

Then he spotted Yuuri.

"Hello" The voice, strangely familiar, echoed across to Yuuri "I don't suppose you'd be interested in kicking some pirate ass, commandeering the ship, and sailing of into the sunset?"

Yuuri gaped.

"Phichit?"

…

"I just think that you're being unreasonable!" Chris told Victor, as he sat across from him. Victor was currently curled up in bed, clutching a bottle of vodka, and acting like a child. It seemed that his 'letting Yuuri go' phase had passed, and now the man wanted nothing more than to run after him and demand why he left.

Unfortunately, Victor refused to admit that. And every time Chris _tried,_ he'd just utter Chris' words back to him in a whiny, mocking voice. This afternoon, when Chris had _dared_ bring Yuuri up, Victor had disappeared for four hours. Chris later found him down in the brig, steaming drunk, and nursing a bottle of vodka, that he refused to let go of.

Chris had even heard him name the bottle 'Yuuri'.

"I'm not going to find Yuuri" Victor insisted, his head buried in the pillow "He wanted to leave. I'm just letting him. I won't make him stay if he doesn't want to"

Dragging a hand across his face, Chris sighed "Do you remember why you had to kidnap Yuuri in the first place?"

"…True love?"

" _No._ JJ! JJ was after Yuuri and you wanted to protect him! Just leaving Yuuri to fend for himself… it's a surefire way to make sure that JJ will get his filthy hands on him!"

There was no reply. Victor had apparently fainted from the alcohol halfway through his speech. Sighing, Chris stood, and made his way outside the cabin, where Yurio stood, his expression dark and closed off.

"That old man… he really is useless."

"He'll come around" Chris closed the door behind him "Despite anything he says, the thing he wants more than anything is for Yuuri to be safe. He loves him enough that having his love requited comes second"

"Not being able to protect him must be driving him insane" Mila stuck her head out from where she was tying ropes above.

"Yeah. It is."


	14. Chapter 14

"Phichit?"

The barely visible figure paused in his endeavour to remove his bindings by rolling about on the floor, and lunged upwards, back straight as an arrow.

"Yuuri?" There was a brief silence as Yuuri felt Phichit scrutinise him "YUURI!"

Phichit tried to launch himself forwards, probably for some sort of attempt at a hug, but failed halfway, and just lay on the floor slightly closer to Yuuri, blinking owlishly "I'm so glad you're okay! But… why are you on board this ship? Weren't you captured by Nikiforov?"

Yuuri's throat went dry, and he tried in vain to swallow, before chuckling a little awkwardly, and making a few barely-cohesive excuses. He'd tell Phichit everything later. But for now, Victor shouldn't be the focus of his mind. Now the stakes were higher. He didn't need to only rescue himself, but also make sure that his best friend got out alive. To do that, any and all feelings had to be put in a tiny box, padlocked, then put the small box inside a bigger box, padlock it, then chuck the whole thing in a safe rigged to explode for good measure.

Yuuri didn't suppress his feelings. He just blew them up. A little bit.

Finding himself coming to the end of his ramble, he rounded it up with a "How did _you_ manage to get captured?", as he worked at the knots that still bound him to the chair, pulling them loose one at a time.

Phichit sighed, and tipped his head to one side, making it hit the wall with a slight _thunk._ "After you got captured by Nikiforov, and I was, you know _shot in the leg_ -which still hurts like _hell_ by the way- we were already too far along in our journey to turn back home. We had to sail to the next port, and hire some more soldiers to help us look for you on our way back. Then at the port tavern, a couple of JJ's minions approached us. Recognised us as your travelling companions- and _may I just say,_ they did _not_ count my hamster as part of the crew! Just left him on the table while they dragged the rest of us away! The _nerve-"_

"Phichit." Yuuri input, sensing that his friend was about to veer off track with one of his long-winded rants. As hilarious as they were, they needed to stay focused, if they were going to get off the ship and back home.

 _Back to Victor?_

 _Shut the fuck up._

"I- yeah. Anyway." Phichit shifted as Yuuri finally managed to break free of the chair, and started leaning over to untie him "Basically, they dragged us out of the building, and tried to get us out to the ship. A few of the dudes broke free, and ran off. But I was slightly incapacitated due to _being shot in the leg-"_

Laughing a little, Yuuri fully freed Phichit of his ropes. Flexing his arms a little, Phichit unsteadily climbed to his feet, gripping the wall, and wincing as he leant on his bad leg.

"In the end, I was deemed 'The Annoying One', and kept on the ship, while the others were stranded at another port in the middle of nowhere. I'm supposed to walk the plank tomorrow" He grinned, which struck Yuuri as slightly inappropriate, seeing as he was talking about his imminent and painful death.

Yuuri's mouth went slightly dry "We need to get you off this ship"

"And you! Hey.." His friend's voice dropped to a conspiring whisper "I heard JJ talking last night. He's been trying to kidnap you for a while"

Rubbing his wrists where the ropes had been, Yuuri strode over to the door, and checked under it. Seeing no feet standing outside, he started feeling around the door for the lock "Really?"

"Uh-huh. And…" Phi chit looked right and left, as if checking for eavesdroppers, and tiptoed across the floor, before grabbing Yuuri by the shoulders, and saying far too loudly"I heard that Nikiforov captured you to keep you safe! Because he's in love with you!"

Yuuri's jaw dropped, and his focus switched from the door to the fact that he was now apparently laying on the floor because his legs had given out from under him. Phichit repeatedly mock-swooned nearby, stumbling on his bandaged leg.

"A pirate romance! Forbidden love between a prince and a pirate! But it was just meant to beeee!"

Staggering slightly, Yuuri rose again, making some very strange noises that made Phichit stop in his play-acting and look over, seemingly concerned.

"Why don't you have a problem with this?"

"Have a problem with what?"

"A…a _prince_ and a _pirate._ By this point you should be ordering me to be hanged!"

Tutting and shaking his head, Phichit placed a comforting hand upon his shoulder "Yuuri, I just want you to know that your family and I love you no _matter_ what your partner's gender is-"

" _Phichit-"_

"-I know that it's a trying time, but remember that it's _okay_ to like men-"

" _That's not what I meant-"_

"-and I feel like it's my duty to give you this advice. You see, when two men love each other very much, they may want to show that love in a _special_ way-"

"STOP!"

The sudden outburst made Phichit break off, and lean over to hug Yuuri, muttering a quiet apology "Jokes aside, we're all behind you. Whether you marry a royal or a criminal" He frowned "Just maybe ask him to stop sinking our ships. That may cause a slight issue in the marriage papers."

Snorting slightly, Yuuri turned and faced the door "Do we have a plan for this?"

"I got nothing" Phichit assented "Ready?"

"Three…"

"Two…"

"One."

They darted forwards, and the door flew off its hinges.

hr

"Port!" Georgi bellowed across from where he stood at the bow, and Chris made his way to the ship edge and watched the land become more tangible in the distance.

"Chris!" Spinning around, Chris spotted Victor coming towards him, holding something

Deciding to indulge him, Chris smiled "Yes?"

"I've found the most intriguing hobby" Victor parted his hands, revealing a ball of wool and two needles "I've decided to take up knitting"

"Oh dear God."

"I'm going to make a scarf with Yuuri's face on it."

"Oh dear _God."_

Right on cue, a shoe came flying towards Victor, and hit him across the face making him look bewildered. Shaking his head, Chris prepared to thank a no doubt angry Russian teenager.

But when he glanced up at his face, Yurio looked… like he'd been crying. His eyes were bloated and puffy, the sun bouncing off tell-tale streaks across his face.

"Yuri…"

"It happened" Yurio rasped, his voice coarse as sandpaper "JJ got him. The idiot's been kidnapped."

Sucking in a breath, Chris stared wide-eyed at the teen. It seemed their fears had come to bear fruit after all.

"Seung Gil told me, he just came in from the last port, and, and…"

He was drawn out of his thoughts by a loud _splash_ , and when he looked back, he saw Victor fixing his hair and smoothing his jacket. His knitting had been cast into the sea.

When Victor cast his eyes upwards, the only thing he could see in his eyes was barely withheld wrath, the murderous desire practically emitting in waves.

Chris swallowed.

"I'm getting Yuuri back." Victor coolly informed them. The only thing that betrayed the rampant, conflicting emotions that he was undoubtedly feeling was the rhythmic clenching and unclenching of his fists.

Then he turned, and marched across the deck to go and get his sword.

" _Hey!_ Old man! I'm coming too!" 

hr

"What do we do now?" Yuuri hissed, as they peeked around the corner, where one of JJ's crew was eating while humming to himself.

"The ship isn't moving" Phichit said, deep in thought "There are people moving on and off. Must be at port"

"So we need to get to the deck"

"Yes."

Sighing, Yuuri rubbed his hand across his face, and tried to focus. His head was still throbbing slightly, and the exhaustion from stress was beginning to set in "How? We need to get past that guy" He gestured to where the guard sat eating "Before we even think about the deck"

"Like this"

And with that, Phichit was sauntering over to the guard, an award winning smile on his face, and taking a seat opposite him.

The guard looked vaguely alarmed at this development, and froze.

Phichit then leaned forward, fingers touching his lips in almost a prayer position, eyes narrowed and exuding the aura of someone who knew what they wanted and exactly how to get it. The pictureof a serious negotiator. He pursed his lips, and asked in a perfectly serious tone

"Have you ever considered becoming a vegan?"

The guard's jaw dropped.

Yuuri facepalmed.

Phichit pointed at the steak that the crew member was halfway through eating "It has a lot of health benefits. Honestly, I think it'd make you a lot happier. Did you know that the demand for meat in this world is-"

The guard opened his mouth, took a huge breath, preparing to shout for back up. But before he could utter one syllable, Phichit grabbed the steak off his plate and slapped him across the face with it making him stumble backwards and hit his head against the wall, knocking him out cold.

"That would've never happened if you were a vegan" Phichit told the unconscious body reproachfully.

Yuuri just stared, mouth agape "Are _you_ a vegan?"

Phichit snorted, and took a bite of the steak before casually placing it back on the plate. "Of course not. Let's go."

Chuckling, Yuuri followed him, rolling his eyes


	15. Chapter 15

The ship's deck was bustling with activity. As Phichit had suspected, the ship was anchored at port, so there was calls and whistles as crates were pulled up, and stacked randomly. Yuuri stood, concealed behind a door, and took deep breaths. His hand kept drifting to his hip, where a sword was tied, in a scabbard.

They'd stolen it from the guard that Phichit had knocked out. While stowing him away in a conveniently placed closet, Yuuri had picked up the sword that lay, half drawn, on the floor. When he asked Phichit if he wanted it, he had shaken his head, and pressed it back towards Yuuri, simply telling him "You have more combat training than me"

Now that the taste of freedom was tantalisingly close, Yuuri couldn't get his mind off the blade. The idea of actually using it terrified him. One of the main reasons that he'd managed to get kidnapped in the _first_ place was that he'd refused to learn how to properly fight. He'd sparred with Minako from time to time, but otherwise, he'd never tried to fight anything other than straw mannequins.

But now, a life or death situation presented itself. If he got this wrong, he and Phichit would _die._ He'd never have the chance to see his parents again, talk to Mari, play with Yuuko's triplets, apologise to _Victor…_

Learning that Victor never meant to use him for ransom, but only wanted to keep him safe was staggering (even if a small part of Yuuri was a tad miffed because he could take care of _himself)_. Victor had risked a _lot_ for him. The night with the cannon fire, Yuuri had been half-convinced he was going to die. But he he'd barely spared a thought to thinking about _why_ Victor would protect him so avidly, if only to sell Yuuri off later.

Victor had never said, nor done anything to Yuuri that would make him think in such a fashion.

Yuuri's blatant lack of trust made him shudder. If anything, he had to get off this ship to apologise to Victor. He'd managed to get involved with everything that he had been trying to keep him away from. It made sense if Victor didn't want to get involved with him anymore.

But in any case, he had to try.

With grim certainty, Yuuri withdrew the sword from the scabbard, and clutched it tightly in his hand, sunlight glinting off the blade.

Barely audible footsteps began to sound behind him. Someone was climbing the stairs, and were doing it in a way that drew as little attention as possible. They had to know he was there.

Inching ever closer to the staircase, Yuuri dropped into a fighting stance, hands shaking around his sword, sweat building on his palms.

A figure rounded the staircase, and Yuuri slashed at it, eyes screwed shut, pointing blindly with the sword.

"Yuuri! Watch it!"

Yuuri blinked his eyes open. Phichit lay pressed up against the wall opposite, head tilted back as far as possible, Yuuri's blade mere inches away.

Gasping, Yuuri allowed his sword to droop "I'm sorry! I thought..you"

Phichit rolled his eyes and got to his feet "I knew that I shouldn't have left you with the sword. You're going to take somebody's eye out!"

"I think that's the point of you giving me the sword in the first place"

"Well not _my_ eyes." Phichit sniffed, turning his nose upwards "I'll have you know that I put a lot of effort into maintaining these baby blues"

"Your eyes are brown."

He flapped his hand in a _whatever_ gesture, crept over to Yuuri, and peeked out of the door "This is going to be difficult."

"No shit."

Phichit rolled his eyes, and stared Yuuri down "Okay. Whats _up_ with you?" Then a grin stole over his face "Something to do with a certain _pirate?"_

" _Focus,_ Phichit"

"Okay, okay. We need a plan. What's the plan?"

"I thought _you_ had a plan?"

"My job is to come up with devastatingly hilarious schemes that ultimately end in failure but still send you on a rollercoaster ride of joy. _Your_ job is to be the smart one."

Eye twitching, Yuuri mentally repeated the words ' _do not stab him, do not stab him, you like Phichit, do not stab him'._ He took a deep breath, and allowed his hands to drop to his sides.

"For _once_ Phichit, cut the jokes. If we're seriously going to get out of this _alive_ , we need to think of something _together."_

Phichit's face sobered and he sighed, turning to peer at the crew beyond the door "There're too many of them to take on by brute force. At least, with only us. The people at port right now seem to be in league with JJ, so there's no crying for help. In other words.."

"We're on our own" Yuuri finished, and scratched the back of his neck, frowning "Right. Realistically, the only way we can do this is by being extremely covert. We can't let anyone see us"

"You're basically suggesting that we hide behind things" Phichit summarised.

"Yes"

"Then why are we wasting time standing here?"

"Because I'm re-evaluating _every_ life choice that has led me to this moment"

Phichit patted Yuuri's arm comfortingly, and told him in an almost patronising tone "You'll get back to your scary pillaging husband soon enough. Now move it. Race you!"

And then he was gone, leaving Yuuri awkwardly stood behind a door, sword tightly grasped in his hand.

"You'll be back soon" He muttered to himself.

Then he followed

hr

"This is _taking_ too long!" Victor banged his fists against the side of the ship, baring his teeth as he stared at the waves.

"The ship is going as fast as it possibly can, Captain"

"Make it go _faster!"_

"I'm afraid that's physically impossible. Anyway, we are almost there. Captain"

Victor whirled around to where Mila was standing and gestured angrily off into the distance, encompassing the whole deck, sails, and cabins in one swoop "Just go. Find _something_ to do that will get me there faster, or I swear to the great Ocean-"

Instead of anger at being spoken to in such a way, there was merely pity in Mila's eyes as she shook her head gently and walked off, calling up to Leo in the rigging.

"Oi. Old man. He's going to be okay."

"Yurio, this really isn't a great time"

Yurio stalked up to where Victor was standing, Otabek in tow. He gazed out onto the waves for a moment, before looking at Victor.

"I know that you're worried about him, but Yuuri can take care of himself. He knows how to use a sword. And JJ is an imbecile"

"Trust me, he won't be an imbecile much longer. He'll be blood on the underside of my shoe"

"Yuuri wouldn't like that" Otabek spoke softly from where he was standing, half concealed by Yurio's flashy leopard print, seemingly chosen to deflect any and all emotion.

Victor didn't reply for a moment, staring grimly at the water, as it rippled. Then he murmured "I have half a mind to swim"

That comment seemed to drive Yurio past the breaking point.

"Look, old man, if you're going to stop Yuuri from being _sold off_ to some stifling old noble, then you need to sit _down,_ prepare your weapons , and let us do our _damn_ jobs!" Yurio snarled "You standing here, and pitying yourself because Yuuri _left_ you isn't getting us anywhere! Is the only reason you're rescuing him to get him _back._ Will you let your feelings for him _interfere?_ "

Victor flinched.

Bullseye.

Then he snapped.

"I am _not_ rescuing Yuuri because I _expect_ anything from him afterwards. Yes, I love him, but that comes second to what _he_ wants. When Yuuri is free, and the threat of JJ has been removed, he can go wherever he pleases. My _feelings_ for him have no play in that matter at _all."_ Victor broke off, and caught his breath, glaring at where Yurio was standing. The blonde boy stared right back, a cold smile playing about his lips.

"Then _act_ like it."

Then he was gone, and Otabek stood alone, facing Victor.

"He didn't mean that"

"Yes he did" Victor flicked his wrist forward "I need to focus less on my unrequited love, and more on the task at hand. He was right"

 _Maybe not so unrequited after all_ , Otabek thought, but instead of voicing it, he gave a curt nod, and strolled away.

hr

Quick as lightning, Yuuri poked his head over the crate, and then back down again.

"Halfway there" He hissed to Phichit, who nodded, two crates behind him. The crates had started out with a wide, comfortable berth behind them, but now Yuuri was uncomfortably wedged between a box (stacked with rum, judging by the way nearby crew kept eyeing it longingly) and a wooden wall next to a cabin door.

There was a sudden clamour of voices out on the deck, and Yuuri used the distraction to scuttle forwards a little, Phichit following his every move.

"BOW TO YOUR KING!" Although unseen, the voice was unmistakeable. It echoed over to where Yuuri crouched, and his eyes widened. No. If JJ was here, that meant…

"FETCH MY PRISONERS!"

"We have to go" There was urgency in Phichit's tone, which set Yuuri on edge even more. Phichit never took anything seriously, but now-

He flattened himself against the rough, unsanded, wooden planks of the deck, and began pulling himself forwards at a fast pace, not caring a whit for splinters. Panic began to overtake him, and he crawled desperately, barely allowing himself to breathe, heart hammering in his chest. Everything on the deck was strangely quiet. Surely by now JJ had realised they were missing, right? Wetness began to prickle at Yuuri's eyes, and he inched ever closer to his goal. As soon as they were over the side of the ship they would need to run faster than ever before. Their sole advantage was the surprise factor, but if they didn't hurry, they might not even have that.

But then Yuuri' s thoughts were interrupted by JJ's thick voice, cutting through the air far closer to him and Phichit than he would have liked. But it wasn't just the sound that made him stiffen. It was the words.

"Nikiforov! So kind of you to visit my ship! What on _earth_ could have brought you here?"


End file.
